Learn how to say that you arrange for someone else to do something for you.
You do not repair your own car, cut your own hair, or rewire your own house — you arrange for a professional to do it. English has a special structure for exactly this idea: the causative. Instead of saying "A mechanic repaired my car," a fluent speaker says "I had my car repaired." The focus moves from the worker to you and the result.
This is one of the most useful everyday structures at B2. It lets you talk naturally about services, repairs, and delegation — and it also describes unpleasant things that happen to you ("I had my phone stolen").
The causative comes in two families: one where you mention the thing (passive causative), and one where you mention the person who does the job.
| Structure | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Passive causative (thing) | have + object + past participle | We had the house painted. |
| Passive causative (informal) | get + object + past participle | We got the house painted. |
| Active (person) with have | have + person + base verb | We had a builder paint it. |
| Active (person) with get | get + person + to-infinitive | We got a builder to paint it. |
This is the most common form and the one you will use every day. You pay for or arrange a service, and you talk about the result, not the worker.
| Ordinary sentence | Causative | Why it is better |
|---|---|---|
| A dentist checked my teeth. | I had my teeth checked. | The worker is not important; the service is. |
| Someone will fix the roof. | We are getting the roof fixed. | Natural way to talk about arranging a job. |
| A tailor is making her a dress. | She is having a dress made. | Works in any tense — just change 'have'. |
Sometimes you want to say who did the job. Both have and get work — but they take a different verb form. This is the classic B2 trap.
| Verb | Followed by | Example |
|---|---|---|
| have | person + base form (no 'to') | I had the mechanic check the engine. |
| get | person + to-infinitive | I got the mechanic to check the engine. |
Two more verbs follow a similar person + base-verb pattern, but with different meanings. Keep them separate from the causative of service.
| Verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| make + person + base | force someone to do something | They made me apologise. |
| let + person + base | allow someone to do something | They let me leave early. |
| have + person + base | arrange / ask (neutral) | They had me fill in a form. |
The passive causative also describes something that happened to you — often unpleasant — even though you did not arrange it. The form is identical: have + object + past participle.
These are the errors B2 students make with the causative. Check your own sentences against every row.
| Wrong ✗ | Right ✓ | Why? |
|---|---|---|
| I had my car repair. | I had my car repaired. | The object is a thing → past participle, not base. |
| I got the plumber fix the leak. | I got the plumber to fix the leak. | get + person needs the to-infinitive. |
| She had the tailor to make a suit. | She had the tailor make a suit. | have + person takes the base form, no 'to'. |
| They made me to sign it. | They made me sign it. | make + person + base form (no 'to'). |
| I did cut my hair yesterday. (I paid for it) | I had my hair cut yesterday. | Use the causative when someone did it for you. |
Two friends talk about a flat that one of them is doing up. Read it twice and watch the causative forms working together: passive causative for services, and 'get someone to' for people.
Choose the correct answer. — 10 questions, each one is marked instantly. Questions get harder as you go.
Learn the words, then use them to talk about services you arrange and jobs you delegate.
Write 8 sentences about jobs you get done by other people — at home, at work, or for a project. Use at least 8 of the words above.
Sentence starters (you can begin with these):
Değerlendirme öğretmenin tarafından yapılacak. (Your teacher will review your task.)
Read the text, then answer the questions.
Good readers prepare before they start. Before you read, think about these three questions (you do not need to write the answers):
Words to spot (from the Speaking section): renovate · hire · outsource · install · reliable · faulty · maintenance · refurbish
Deniz always dreamed of running her own photography studio, yet she knew almost nothing about building work. When she finally rented an old shop last spring, the place was a mess. Therefore, instead of trying to do everything herself, she decided to have the professionals handle it.
To understand why she made that choice, it helps to know a little about Deniz herself. For almost ten years she had worked as an assistant in a busy city studio, photographing weddings, newborn babies and nervous couples on their engagement day. She loved the work, and over time she had managed to save a modest amount of money; however, she had never once picked up a hammer or wired a plug in her life. Whenever friends asked her whether she felt ready to run a business on her own, she would laugh and admit that she could frame a portrait beautifully but could not tell a fuse box from a bread box. Because of this honest self-knowledge, she understood from the very beginning that she would have to get most of the practical work done by people who genuinely knew what they were doing.
First, she had the walls repainted in soft grey, and she got a carpenter to build display shelves along one side. Although the electrics were dangerous, she did not panic; she simply had them rewired by a licensed electrician. Moreover, she got a friend who studies design to create her logo, whereas her cousin, who is good with computers, set up the website for free.
The painting and the shelves were only the beginning, though. Since the old shop had once been a bakery, the back room still smelled faintly of flour and damp, so she had the whole floor sanded and sealed by a specialist. A plumber came to fix the leaking sink, whereas a heating engineer replaced the ancient radiator that clanked all night long. Deniz also wanted a proper sign above the door, and therefore she had a bold, hand-painted board fixed to the wall by a local sign-writer whose work she had admired for years. 'I could have tried to paint the sign myself,' she remembers, 'but I know my limits. I would rather pay once and have it done well than do it twice and still feel embarrassed.'
Not everything went smoothly, however. Two weeks before opening, someone broke a window overnight, and she had her new camera stolen from the back room. Nevertheless, Deniz refused to give up. She had the window replaced the next morning, and since the insurance covered most of the loss, she got another camera delivered within days.
The break-in shook her more than she liked to admit. For a few nights she barely slept, and she seriously wondered whether opening a business had been a foolish dream after all. Nevertheless, something unexpected happened: word of the theft spread quickly around the neighbourhood, and people she hardly knew began to offer help. The café owner two doors down lent her a spare table for the reception area, while a retired locksmith insisted on checking every lock in the building for free. Moreover, Deniz decided that she would never feel so exposed again, so she had a modern alarm system installed and got security cameras fitted at both the front and the back of the shop. Although the equipment was expensive, she considered it money well spent, because peace of mind, she says, cannot be bought a second time.
By the time the opening day finally arrived, the tired old shop had been completely transformed. The grey walls looked calm and professional, the new shelves were filled with sample albums, and warm light spilled across the polished floor. Deniz had invited a small crowd of former clients and neighbours, and she had ordered a tray of pastries from the very café that had lent her the table. As guests wandered around admiring the space, several of them asked how on earth she had managed to organise everything at once. She simply smiled and explained her rule: decide what only you can do, and have everything else done by someone who is better at it than you are.
These days Deniz rarely does the boring jobs herself. She has her accounts checked by an expert every month, and she gets her equipment serviced twice a year. She still takes every photograph personally, though — that part she will never hand to anyone else.
Her working week now runs far more smoothly than she had ever dared to hope. On Mondays she gets the studio cleaned before the first client arrives, and at the end of every month she has her tax forms prepared by the same accountant who checks her books. When a large order comes in, she does not stay up until midnight editing hundreds of images alone; instead, she has the routine retouching done by a trusted freelancer, whereas she personally handles the final adjustments that give each picture her own particular style. This balance leaves her with the time and the energy to do the part of the job she truly loves.
One recent afternoon captures the way she now works. A family arrived for a portrait, tired after a long drive and anxious that their restless toddler would ruin the session. Deniz did not rush. She spent twenty patient minutes simply talking to the child, letting him hold a soft toy and even press the shutter button himself, until at last he relaxed and burst out laughing. The resulting photograph, warm and completely natural, was exactly the kind of image no assistant or freelancer could ever have produced for her. It reminded her, yet again, why she had been so determined to keep that one task for herself.
When younger photographers now ask her for advice, Deniz always gives them the same answer. Running a studio, she tells them, is not only about talent behind the camera; it is also about knowing how to spend your time wisely. In her very first weeks she had wasted whole days struggling with tasks she did not understand, and she had achieved almost nothing. Once she started to have those tasks done by experts, her business finally began to grow. 'Delegating is not a weakness,' she likes to say. 'It is the skill that lets you protect the thing you are best at.'
Looking ahead, Deniz has quietly ambitious plans. She hopes to have a second, smaller room converted into a space for teaching short weekend courses, and she would love to get a proper darkroom built so that she can experiment with old film techniques again. Yet she is in no hurry at all. She has learned that a business grows best when its owner stays calm, plans carefully, and refuses to try to do everything at once.
'You cannot do everything alone,' she says. 'A good business owner knows exactly what to do herself and what to have done by others.'
Choose the correct answer.
Are these sentences true or false, according to the text?
Complete each sentence with ONE word from the text. Mind the causative form (have/get + object + past participle).
Write your answer in your own words. These questions are not marked automatically.
1. Why did Deniz decide to have the work done by professionals instead of doing it herself?
2. How did Deniz react when her camera was stolen two weeks before opening?
3. What is the one job Deniz still does herself, and why do you think she keeps it?
Find these connectors in the text — each one appears at least once: however, therefore, nevertheless, although, whereas, moreover, since, yet. (You will use these same connectors in the Writing section.) Note them down, then check.
Haruka interviews Mark about his podcast, Zen Sammich, and what making one is really like.
You will hear an interview: Haruka asks Mark about his podcast — how it started, how much work it is, and his advice for beginners. You will listen TWICE. First listen: answer questions 1-5. Second listen: answer questions 6-10. (Kaydı İKİ kez dinleyeceksin: ilk dinlemede 1-5, ikinci dinlemede 6-10.)
Write and submit your paragraph; your teacher will review it.
At B1 you linked ideas with and, but, so, because. At B2 you sound noticeably more advanced when you use formal, precise connectors. Four of them are essential this unit — and two familiar ones, although and however, become sharper tools.
| Connector | Use it to... | Example |
|---|---|---|
| moreover | add a stronger, extra point | I had the roof fixed. Moreover, I got the walls repainted. |
| therefore | show a logical result | The wiring was faulty; therefore, I had it replaced. |
| whereas | contrast two ideas directly | I did the painting myself, whereas I had the floor done. |
| nevertheless | say "in spite of that" | It was expensive. Nevertheless, I hired a professional. |
| although | concede a point inside one sentence | Although I could not do it alone, I managed the project. |
| however | contrast between two sentences | I planned to save money. However, I had to hire help. |
See the difference — the same facts, written two ways:
| Basic linking ✗ | Confident B2 writing ✓ |
|---|---|
| I renovated my flat. It was hard. I could not do it all. I asked people. It looks good now. | I decided to renovate my flat, but I could not do it all alone. Therefore, I had the walls repainted and got an electrician to install new lights. Although it was hard, the flat looks wonderful now. |
A "project you managed" paragraph has three parts. The skeleton stays the same — you change the content, not the structure:
| Part | What to write | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Opening | A topic sentence about the project | Last year I decided to renovate my old flat. |
| 2. Body | Tell the story with causative forms. Use "have/get something done" for services and "get someone to do" for people. Link with B2 connectors. | I had the walls repainted, and I got a carpenter to build the shelves. Nevertheless, I had a delivery sent to the wrong address. |
| 3. Closing | A final comment about the result or the future | I have not finished decorating yet, therefore I still have plans. |
Write about a project you managed — renovating a room, planning an event, or setting something up — where you got jobs done by other people. Use the causative structures of this unit.
Değerlendirme öğretmenin tarafından yapılacak. (Your teacher will evaluate your writing.)
Mixed questions from the whole unit, then check what you can do.
14 questions: grammar + vocabulary + reading + listening. Each question is marked instantly.
Tick what you can do now. Honest answers help your teacher.
İşaretlemediğin madde varsa ilgili bölüme dönüp tekrar çalış — soldaki menüden her bölüme geri dönebilirsin.
Oturum kontrol ediliyor...