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Causative ESL Worksheet

To access this worksheet as an online activity, view our 'Causative' exercise.

ESL Worksheet: Causative

Instructions: Choose the correct answer.

Q1 - I had my hair cut last week
 
The speaker did not cut his own hair
 
The speaker cut his own hair
Q2 - They had their car stolen a fortnight ago
 
The causative is used to show misfortune
 
The causative is used because they arranged it
Q3 - He had the decorators repaint the bedroom ceiling
 
He worked together with the decorators
 
He told them what to do and they did it
Q4 - I'll get Claire to talk to him
 
This sentence means the same as 'I'll have Claire talk to him.'
 
This sentence means that something unfortunate is going to happen
Q5 - I'd get somebody in to do it if I could afford it
 
The speaker will do it herself because she hasn't got enough money
 
It is not clear if she will do it herself or if it won't be done
Q6 - I must get it fixed
 
The speaker has made the decision
 
Somebody has given the speaker instructions
Q7 - I have to have my hair cut
 
The speaker has made the decision
 
Somebody has given the speaker instructions
Q8 - She had her dog vaccinated
 
She gave the dog the medicine
 
The vet or someone else gave the dog the medicine
Q9 - He had a phone put in the day he moved in
 
This is a formal way of using the past perfect
 
An engineer put the phone in for him on his instructions
Q10 - Can you get it fixed for me, please?
 
This is a polite way of asking the other person to fix it
 
The speaker wants the other person to arrange for it to be fixed
Q11 - He had his car stolen
 
He arranged for some car thieves to steal it
 
Here the causative is used to show that something unfortunate happened
Q12 - He had his flat burgled a few days ago
 
He was responsible for the action being done
 
Here the causative is used to show that something unfortunate happened
Q13 - I'm going to get my car serviced this afternoon
 
He will be responsible for the action being done, but will not actually do it himself
 
Here the causative is used to show that something unfortunate is going to happen

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