Teaching English through e-learning

Have something done

 Use this form when an action is done for you by somebody else.

I had my suit cleaned. (The shop did it.)

He had his mobile phone repaired. (An engineer did it.)

Use a form of have + object + past participle:

• Presentsimple
  •  Claire has her haircut every month.
  • Presentcontinuous
    •  Dave and Bill are having their haircut.
    • Past simple
      •  Claire had her haircut last week.
      • Present perfect
        •  Claire has had her haircut.

!Do not confuse this form with the past perfect.

We had a new computer system installed.

The technician had installed a new computer system. (past perfect)

We can make questions and negatives.

Are you having your car serviced this week?

I haven’t had the windows cleaned for ages.

In spoken or informal English, we can also use get + object + past participle.

I got my eyes checked last week because I’ve been having headaches.

We also use this form to talk about something that happens to us that we have no control over.

In this street we have our rubbish collected once a week.

We often use the form for unexpected or unpleasant things that happen to us.

To our great surprise, we had our money refunded.

He had his mobile phone stolen.