English Grammar - Passive Causative

Hey guys, this is Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on the passive

causative. Now, this is a more advanced grammar structure that we're going to talk about.

So on the board, we have a sentence, and this is a problem. "Imagine that yesterday my car

broke down." First of all, "broke down" means that my car stopped working. Okay? So what

would be the solution to this problem? Imagine, "Yesterday my car broke down. What did I do

next?" Well, normally, if your car breaks down, or if you have a problem with any kind

of piece of mechanical equipment, you have to get it fixed by someone, right? So I say,

"Yesterday my car broke down. Next, I had it fixed by a mechanic. I had it fixed by a mechanic."

Okay, now this gives us a better idea of what the passive causative actually is. So remember,

a passive sentence is one where the subject isn't really doing the action. He's kind of

receiving the action, okay? Causative means you're causing the action, so it's kind of

contrary to each other, but we're going to work it out. So, for example, let's look at

the structure of the passive causative itself, and we can better understand it. So, "I had

it fixed by a mechanic." We have a subject, we have the verb "have" in the past, "yesterday,"

so "had," but we can use "have" in general. We can also use "get." So here, I can also

say, "I got it fixed by a mechanic." Then you have the object, so you have, "I had it,"

"it" relates back to the car, plus "fixed." "Fixed" is a past participle, so we're just

going to use "pp" for the advanced students here. So we have the past participle, plus,

and this is optional in some cases, a "by" phrase, and I said "by an agent." "Agent"

is the person who did the action to the object, okay? So here, you didn't fix your car, right?

You got someone else to fix your car. So, "You had it fixed by a mechanic." This is

the passive causative. Now, let's look at another example, and you can tell me the solution

to this problem. So, for example, give me some advice here. If I say, "My hair is too

long." If I say, "My hair is too long. I haven't cut my hair in six months or eight months,"

right? And it's getting really, really long. So, what kind of advice would you give me?

What should I do? Normally, when your hair is too long, you naturally go to a stylist,

you go to a barber, and you get your hair cut. So you can actually use the passive causative

as a way of giving advice as well, if you throw in a modal between the subject and "have"

and "get." Okay? So, for example, "Well, my hair is too long. My hair is too long. You

give me advice." And you say, "Well, Alex, you should get it cut." So, here we have the

subject, which is myself. We have a modal to give me advice, "You should," "You might."

We have "get," and again, you can use "have" here as well. You can say, "You should have

it cut." "You should get it cut." There is no difference in meaning. We have the object.

We're talking about my hair. "Cut" is the past participle of "cut." Now, what you're

noticing here is that I have no bi-phrase, right? So, the bi-phrase sometimes is implied,

okay? It's not absolutely necessary in every single situation. Here, you understand that

I'm gonna get my hair cut by a stylist. Someone else is going to cut my hair, okay? So, let's

look at a couple of more examples of passive causative statements. So, again, imagine that

your teeth hurt. You have to go see the dentist, right? So, what should you do next? Well,

if your teeth hurt, you probably should get them checked out by a dentist. So, for example,

the situation, again, is, "My teeth hurt." So, maybe you need your wisdom teeth to be

taken out, or you're experiencing some severe pain. You have a cavity. So, you can tell

me to get my teeth, or have my teeth. You should have them, again, "them" plural, because

of teeth. You should have them, let's say, looked at. Now, again, the bi-phrase is optional.

We understand that normally when your teeth hurt, you see a dentist. So, you can just

say, "Yeah, you should have them looked at." We understand that you mean you should have

them looked at by a dentist. So, the bi-phrase here is completely optional, but we're gonna

put "by a dentist." Okay. Now, if you want to test your understanding of the passive

causative, I'm gonna give you some more problems, and you're gonna give me some solutions to

these problems in a quiz below on www.engvid.com. So, again, remember this structure when using

the passive causative. You're getting something done to something by someone or something

else. Okay. So, by an agent. Here, my hair is too long. You should get it cut by a barber.

My teeth hurt. You should have them looked at by a dentist. Yesterday, my car broke down.

I had it fixed by a mechanic. So, you got someone else to do something for you. Okay.

Again, if you're unclear, check out the quiz on www.engvid.com. Good luck with this one,

guys, and I'll talk to you soon. Take care.