“Have”, “get” and “let” structures

Knowledge of the basics of English grammar will help you to communicate clearly and confidently. Here, we look at different structures with “have”, “get” and “let”.

Have it done

We use “have” + object + past participle to describe something that is done for you by somebody else. This structure is connected to the passive form and it means “cause something to happen”. The emphasis is on the action, not on who did it. In German, you would use the expression etw. machen lassen:

They had the wine delivered to their offices.

We had the desk designed especially for her.

I’ll have the bike repaired.

By using the word “by”, you can include the person who performed the action, which shifts the emphasis from the action to the person: They had the wine delivered to their offices by a bike courier. We had the desk designed especially for her by a Swedish team.

I’ll have the bike repaired by an expert.

Get it done

More informally, you can use “get” instead of “have”. We use “get” + object + past participle in the same way:

They got the wine delivered to their offices.

We got the desk designed especially for her.

I’ll get the bike repaired.

Get it working

We use “get” + object + the “-ing” form of the verb to mean “cause to happen”:

Can you help me get my audio working?

Did he get the computer running again?

Will you be able to get the car going?

Instructing somebody

We use the structure “have” + object + infinitive when we talk about instructing someone to do something. We use it to emphasize the person who will do the action: I’ll have Paul send you the new guide. (= I will instruct Paul to send you the new guide.) We had the team test it. (= We instructed the team to test it.)

More informally, we can use “get” + object + “to” + infinitive:

I’ll get Paul to send you the new guide.

We got the team to finish it.

Talking about experiences

We use “have” + object + the “-ing” form of the verb to talk about an experience or an event, especially to show that an action lasted a long period of time:

We’ve had hackers bombing our virtual meetings all the time.

We can also use “have” + object + infinitive to talk about something that somebody did, or to describe a completed event or experience: We had a hacker bomb our virtual meeting yesterday.

We can also use “have” + object + the “-ing” form of the verb to describe an ongoing action that someone or something is causing: His quiz nights had us laughing. (= His quiz nights made us laugh.)

I had the team watching all the “how-to” videos yesterday. (= I got the team to watch all the “how-to” videos yesterday.)

Let happen

We use the structure “let” + somebody + infinitive to show that we allow somebody to do something. In German, you would say jmdn. etw. tun lassen:

Why doesn’t the company let everyone work from home? We don’t let employees use

their work laptops for their personal use.