 Causative verbs in English let, make, have, and help from espressoenglish.net The English verbs let, make, have, get, and help are called causative verbs because they cause something else to happen. Let's look at some examples. Let means to permit. The structure is let plus a person or thing plus the base form of the verb. For example, I don't let my kids watch violent movies. Mary's father won't let her adopt a puppy because he's allergic to dogs. Our boss doesn't let us eat lunch at our desks. We have to eat in the cafeteria. Oops! I wasn't paying attention while cooking and I let the food burn. Don't let the advertising expenses surpass a thousand dollars. Remember that the past tense of let is also let. There is no change from present to past. With let, you don't use the word to. The verbs allow and permit are more formal ways to say let, but with these, we use to plus the verb. For example, I don't allow my kids to watch violent movies. Our boss doesn't permit us to eat lunch at our desks. But in everyday English, it's more common to use let plus the person or thing plus the base form of the verb, without the word to. Make implies that there is force or requirement. The structure is make plus a person or thing plus the verb in the base form. Again, we do not use to. Here are some examples. After Billy broke the neighbor's window, his parents made him pay for it. My ex-boyfriend loved sci-fi and made me watch every episode of his favorite show. The teacher made all the students rewrite their papers because the first drafts were not acceptable. You can also use force or require with the same meaning, but when using force or require, then we must use to before the verb. For example, the school requires the students to wear uniforms. Require often implies that there is a rule. The hijacker forced the pilots to take the plane in a different direction. Force often implies violence, threats, or extremely strong pressure. Next, there's the verb have, which often refers to giving responsibility for a task. We can use it in two ways. We can have a person do something, have plus person plus the verb in the base form. Or we can have something done, have plus the thing plus the verb in the past participle. Let's look at some examples. I'll have my assistant call you to reschedule the appointment. The businessman had his secretary make copies of the report. I'm going to have my hair cut tomorrow. We're having our house painted this weekend. Bob had his teeth whitened. His smile looks great. My washing machine is broken. I need to have it repaired. Informally, we often use get in these situations. For example, I'm going to get my hair cut tomorrow. We're getting our house painted this weekend. Bob got his teeth whitened. His smile looks great. My washing machine is broken. I need to get it repaired. We can also use get to refer to convincing or encouraging a person to do something. And in this structure, we use get plus the person plus two and then the verb. For example, how can we get all the employees to arrive on time? My husband hates housework. I can never get him to wash the dishes. I was nervous about eating sushi, but my brother got me to try it at a Japanese restaurant. The nonprofit got a professional photographer to take photos at the event for free. Finally, we have help, which means to assist. The structure is help plus a person and then we can use to or we can just use the base form of the verb. For example, he helped me carry the boxes or he helped me to carry the boxes. Reading before bed helps me relax. Reading before bed helps me to relax. Both forms are correct, but it's more common to use help without the word too. To improve your English further, join my Advanced English Grammar course. It has 45 detailed lessons about English grammar, including writing tasks with teacher feedback. Click on the link in the video for more information.