'Build something' or 'have something built'?

[99bottles]

I often see sentences such as,

'King Louis XIV built Versailles.'

'The Pharaoh built the pyramid.'

Are such sentences correct? Shouldn't it be 'Louis XIV had Versailles built' instead, since he was not the one who directly put the bricks together? I apologize if the question is stupid.

 

[5jj]

Shouldn't it be 'Louis XIV had Versailles built' ....?

Logically yes,, but we often use the form you have questioned.

 

[Jemima23]

Not a teacher.

I agree, it would make more sense to say: "...had Versailles built", but, as was pointed out by 5jj in the previous comment, it is not rare to come across the "built the pyramid" version in media as well as spoken English.

 

[jutfrank]

It makes perfectly good sense to me. Your question suggests that your sense of the verb build is far too narrow.

 

[Rover_KE]

Most dictionaries list this meaning of 'build'. For instance

[FONT=&quot]to order/commission/finance the building of[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]the government builds most of our hospitals[/FONT]

(Collins)

 

[Skrej]

The idea is that although the person in question may not have actually built the thing in question themselves, since it was done at their command, they're given credit for making it happen.

Also, something large like a palace or the pyramids isn't built by just one person alone anyway. Sometimes a leader will ceremonially contribute to the labor as in a groundbreaking ceremony, or otherwise placing the first (or last) stone, brick, nail, or similar.