This section is about the causative form or 'have something done'. This structure is used in English when we do not do something ourselves, but we arrange for someone else to do it for us. It's not too difficult, but you have to get used to it.
Reading activity
Paco's flight wasn't cancelled, so he was lucky. But not too much. When he arrived at JFK Airport in New York, he decided to take a taxi to go to the hotel. Unfortunately, on his way to the city, the old and beat-up yellow Yorker taxi broke down. Paco couldn't believe his eyes.
There were hundreds and hundreds of taxis at the Airport and he chose that one. The taxi driver, a middle-aged man of Indian origin, told him not to worry about it. He made a couple of telephone calls to his insurance company and in half an hour the taxi driver had his taxi repaired and ready to go on with Paco's plans.
The causative form structure is peculiar in English. It doesn't exist in Spanish.
Find the sentence in the text describing where one person does the activity for another.
beat-up: destartalado
to break down: romperse, averiarse, estropearse
to believe one's eyes: creerse lo que ven sus propios ojos
insurance company : aseguradora
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The sentence is: the taxi driver had his taxi repaired
AV - Reflexión
The causative is a common structure in English. It is used when one thing or person causes another thing or person to do something, that is to say, when we speak about a professional service which someone has done for us:
Right. There is no past participle in the sentence. It should be repaired.
Wrong. The structure should be: have + object + past participle.
2) Are you going to get the tyres changed?
a. Incorrect.
b. Correct.
Wrong. The sentence is correct. Get can be also used instead of have.
Right. The sentence is correct. Get can be also used instead of have.
3. I had serviced my car.
Correct
Incorrect
No,look at the position of the object.
Right! The correct form for this structure is : I had my car serviced.
Curiosity
Central Park in New York: a jungle in the middle of skyscrapers
Central Park is a large public, urban park that occupies over a square mile (341 hectares) in the heart of Manhattan in New York City.
It is host to approximately twenty-five million visitors each year.
Central Park was opened in 1859, completed in 1873 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1963.
The park was designed by the famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and the architect Calvert Vaux.
While much of the park looks natural, it is in fact almost entirely
landscaped. It contains several natural-looking lakes and ponds,
extensive walking tracks, two ice-skatingrinks (one of which is a swimming pool in July and August), the Central Park Zoo, the Central Park Conservatory Garden, a wildlife sanctuary, a large area of natural woods, a reservoir with an encircling running track, and the outdoor Delacorte Theater which hosts the "Shakespeare in the Park" summer festivals.
The park is maintained by the Central Park Conservancy, a private, not-for-profit organization that manages the park under a contract with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, in which the president of the Conservancy is ex officio Administrator of Central Park.
Central Park is bordered on the north by West 110th Street, on the south by West 59th Street, on the west by Eighth Avenue. Along the park's borders however, these are known as Central Park North, Central Park South, and Central Park West respectively. Fifth Avenue
retains its name along the eastern border of the park. Most of the
areas immediately adjacent to the park are known for impressive
buildings and valuable real estate.
Reading activity
AV - Reflexión
Solved exercise
Self-Assessment activity
Curiosity
