Monday, September 2, 2013

The Devil Made Me Do It: Causative Verbs (Part II - Other Causative Verbs)

Make, let, allow and require are probably the most common causative verbs.  There are, however, several others that are useful.  Like so many other groups of similar words in English, knowing the subtle differences between words can be tricky, but also very important.

Have, Get and Ask

Two causative verbs that are similar to make or require are have and get.  However, unlike make or require, which often mean someone is unhappy, have and get are fairly neutral.

Have is used in the pattern have someone do something, which requires the bare infinitive.  (Don’t add to.)  To see the difference, look at the following examples.

  • I made my son carry our bags to our hotel room.
  • I had the bellman take our bags to our hotel room.

In the first sentence, no doubt my son is grumbling under his breath.  “How come I have to do all the work.  Why cant HE carry his own stupid bags?”  (Son.  You need to understand that your job is to do all the stuff that I don’t want to do.  That’s why we didn’t sell you to the circus years ago.  When you have your own children, you’ll understand.)

The bellman, on the other hand, happily (I hope) takes us to our room.  Why?  Because it’s his JOB.  I’m not asking him to do anything unusual.  (And he’s expecting a tip.)  Have is used to describe actions that are part of everyday life and usually there is some sort of payment involved.  Look at the next pair of example sentences.

  • I made a student stay after school to finish his homework.
  • I have my students do homework two or three times a week.

In the first sentence, this is a punishment.  The student didn’t finish their homework on time, so now they are suffering the consequences and are not happy about it.  On the other hand, homework in general is a regular part of the academic process.  It’s the students’ JOB.  Their reward is an education (and a good grade).  Have is most commonly used by a boss or a customer asking for service but is also commonly used to describe teachers and students and parents and children for things like chores.  (Contrary to popular belief among youth, having your children wash the dishes and vacuum the living room is not child abuse.)

Get is very similar to have, with a couple of differences.  First, the pattern is get someone to do something (with the full infinitive).  Second, it is informal and conversational, and not as good as have when money is involved.

Get is usually used to describe favors between friends and acquaintances.  I would use this to describe friends who helped us move, or a student who erased the whiteboard for me after class.

  • I got a friend to help me bring our new sofa into the house.
  • I got a student to go to the school store to get me some new markers.

They are doing me favors.  All my friend needs in return is a couple of slices of pizza.  And when my friend needs help with something, I’ll be there.  The student is just being nice (or desperately needs to get out of my boring class).

With both have and get, the reason I get the help is because I asked.  (With the exception of my son carrying the bags, which was simply a statement.  “Boy!  Carry the bags.”)

  • Could you take our bags to our room, please?”
  • Could you give me a hand with my new sofa on Saturday?
  • Would someone go to the school store and get some new whiteboard pens, please?

The basic pattern is ask someone to do something with the full infinitive.  It can be used in place of have or get and is a little more polite.  Ask is good to use with friends and children to parents.  Ask is friendly, but polite.

Cause vs. Make

Another useful causative verb is the (obvious?) cause and is quite similar to make, which was discussed in the previous blog, though there are three differences to keep in mind.  First, they have different patterns.  You can make someone do something or make something happen, both with bare infinitives (without to).  For example:

  • The coach made the players run five miles.
  • The strong wind made the windows shake.

Cause, on the other hand, requires the full infinitive (with to), as in:
  • The dust in the air caused me to sneeze.
  • The strong wind caused the windows to shake.

This also illustrates the two other differences.  Make is much more informal and conversational.  Cause is much better for formal situations.  Also, and more importantly, make is used when a person has control or authority.  Cause is used to simply describe an action and reaction. Therefore, the following sentence is incorrect.
  • The coach caused the players to run five miles.
  • The coach made the players run five miles.

The coach has authority over the players.  The coach ordered them to do this.  The players had to run.  The wind did not order the windows to shake.  It just happened.

Encourage and Help

As any parent knows, you can’t make your children do everything.  For many things, they have to make their own decisions.  My oldest son will be graduating from high school in June 2014 and then he’s off to college.  The decision of what college to attend is his.  However, I can give him advice.  I can encourage him in one direction or another.

Encourage is used to show a suggestion and is very similar to the helping verb should.  However, the other person must make the final choice.  The basic pattern is encourage someone to do something, with a full infinitive.  For example:

  • I think my son should try out for the swim team.
  • I will encourage my son to try out for the swim team.

While encourage is more passive (I’m standing on the side watching my son), help is another causative verb that is more active.  When you help someone, you participate in the activity, but the final product is theirs.
  • Skyler helped his mother make dinner.
  • Kai helped me to wash the car.

The chef of the meal is Skyler’s mother.  The person responsible for the cleanliness of the my car is me.

Among this group of causative verbs, help is unique.  While all of the others are limited to one strict pattern, either with a full infinitive or a bare infinitive, help can be followed by either.

  • A student helped the teacher straighten up the desks after class.
  • A student helped the teacher to straighten up the desks after class.

Both are considered correct, but the first one (without to) is probably most common in American English and the one that I find myself using most often.

Force

The last causative verb I would like to discuss is also the strongest.  Force is used in extreme situations, situations that could end in injury or death – a threat that violence, possibly with a weapon, might be used.  Force is used to show that there was no other choice, no matter how difficult the decision was or how much trouble was caused by the decision.  For example:

  • The armed bank robber forced everyone in the bank to lie on the floor.
  • The heavy snow forced officials to close the airport.

In the first example, everyone lies on the floor because the robber has a gun.  If they don’t, they might get shot and killed.  In the second example, closing an airport is an extreme decision that will affect thousands of people, but it has to be done to keep everyone safe.  They don’t want to do it, but they have no choice.

As you can see from the examples, the basic pattern is force someone to do something with a full infinitive.

Learning the basic patterns (with or without to) is fairly easy and can be done with a little bit of practice.  However, knowing when to use a causative verb and which one is best is the ultimate goal for language learners.
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