1. Someone else performs the action for you
When you ask or hire someone to do a job, you can say I have/get something done. In I had my hair cut at a salon, a hairdresser cut the hair, and the speaker received the service. The important action is what happened to the hair; the person who performed it does not have to be named.
This is one way to describe a service. A hairdresser cut my hair is also correct. In contrast, I cut my hair myself directly says that the person cut their own hair. In this lesson, we will practise the model with have/get and a service.
I had my hair cut at a new salon yesterday.
Yesterday, I had my hair cut at a new salon.
A hairdresser cut it, not the speaker — so we use had...cut, not simply cut.
I cut my hair myself yesterday.
Yesterday, I cut my hair myself.
Here the speaker performed the action themselves — this is ordinary Past Simple, without the causative.
2. Form: have/get + object + participle
In a basic affirmative sentence, put the object — the thing that something is done to — after have/get, and V3 after it: have the car repaired. V3 means the third form of the verb: repair → repaired, cut → cut.
Do not confuse this model with the perfect: I have tested my eyes and I have my eyes tested have different structures and meanings. In a wh-question, the object can be a question word at the beginning: What did you have repaired? This does not change the main connection have + object + V3.
have/get + object + V3 (third form): have the car repaired
- V3 / past participle —
- The third verb form: worked, gone, seen. Used after have/has or in the passive, for example; it is not always the same as V2.
- object / O —
- Who or what an action affects: in I read a book, a book is the object.
We had the kitchen redecorated last spring.
We had the kitchen redecorated last spring.
The kitchen (the object) comes between had and redecorated.
I'm going to have my eyes tested next week.
I'm going to have my eyes tested next week.
My eyes comes between have and tested even in the future form going to have.
3. Present Simple and Present Continuous: habit versus an action happening now
Present Simple (have/has + object + V3) often describes a regular arrangement: I have my car serviced every year. Every year helps show the habit, but the time marker itself does not replace analysing the meaning.
Present Continuous (am/is/are having + object + V3) can describe a service happening now or a future arrangement: I’m having my car serviced tomorrow. Here have describes an action, so the form having is completely possible.
I have my car serviced every year.
I have my car serviced every year.
Every year — a regular habit, Present Simple have.
I'm having my car serviced right now.
I'm having my car serviced right now.
Right now — the action is happening at this moment, Present Continuous am having.
4. Past Simple and Present Perfect: a past period or a connection with the present
Past Simple (had + object + V3) places the service in a completed past period. It can describe one event or a repeated action: Last year, I had the windows cleaned every month. The time may be stated directly or understood from the context.
Present Perfect (have/has had + object + participle) focuses on the present result or overall experience, not the exact time of the action. It naturally combines with already, just, yet, twice this year — when what matters is not “when,” but “what has already been done” or “how many times up to now.”
She had her hair cut yesterday.
She had her hair cut yesterday.
Yesterday — a specific completed time, Past Simple had.
We've had the kitchen redecorated — it looks great.
We've had the kitchen redecorated — it looks great.
No exact time is given; the important thing is the result now, so we use Present Perfect have had.
5. Future decisions, advice and necessity
The future (will have / am going to have + object + participle) describes a planned or promised service. Going to have usually expresses a decision that has already been made; will have expresses a decision or promise made while speaking, or a prediction.
Should and must express advice or necessity: You should have the brakes checked. Need to can also express necessity, but here need is an ordinary verb followed by a to-infinitive. It is not a separate tense. After should/must, use have without to; after need, use to have.
We'll have the report translated by Monday.
We'll have the report translated by Monday.
A promise to arrange the translation by the stated deadline: will have + the report + translated.
You need to have the boiler serviced before winter.
You need to have the boiler serviced before winter.
Need to have expresses the necessity of arranging the servicing; in this situation, a technician will do the work.
6. Negatives and questions in every tense
Negatives and questions with this construction follow the usual rules of the relevant tense: in Present/Past Simple, the auxiliary do/does/did is needed (because this construction has no auxiliary of its own); in Present Perfect, the negative or question directly involves have/has; in the future, it involves will.
In a short affirmative answer (Yes, I have.), the auxiliary verb is not contracted — Yes, I've. sounds incorrect. In a short negative answer, contraction is normal: No, I haven't.
Did you have your car serviced last month?
Did you have your car serviced last month?
Past Simple question: Did + subject + have + object + participle.
Have you had the report translated yet?
Have you had the report translated yet?
Present Perfect question: Have/Has + subject + had + object + participle + yet.
7. A common mistake: word order, not the tense itself
Check that you have not changed the causative model into a perfect construction with a different meaning: I have had my eyes tested reports receiving a service; I have tested my eyes reports checking them yourself. The correct form depends on what you want to say.
A second common mistake is forgetting the second have in Present Perfect (have had), because two different forms of have appear next to each other: the first is the auxiliary verb of the perfect, and the second is the causative verb have itself.
I'm going to have my eyes tested next week.
I'm going to have my eyes tested next week.
Correct order: have + my eyes + tested.
We've had the roof repaired twice this year.
We've had the roof repaired twice this year.
Have (perfect auxiliary) + had (causative have) + the roof + repaired.
8. When this construction is really needed in speech
To report a service, first decide when it happens: regularly, now, in a completed past period, or as a future arrangement. Then choose the form of have/get; V3 after the object stays unchanged.
In wider use, this structure does not always mean an arranged service. I had my phone stolen describes an unwanted event that the speaker did not arrange. I got the work done can mean that the speaker completed the work themselves. We work out who acted and whether there was an arrangement from the context.
I need to have my suit dry-cleaned before the interview.
I need to have my suit dry-cleaned before the interview.
Need to expresses necessity; have my suit dry-cleaned names the dry-cleaning service.
I've never had my shoes repaired before.
I've never had my shoes repaired before.
Present Perfect expresses experience up to now; had + my shoes + repaired preserves the service model.
Common mistakes
Incorrect:I'm going to have my eyes test next week.
Correct:I'm going to have my eyes tested next week.
In the have + object + V3 model, the third form tested is needed after my eyes, not the base form test.
Incorrect:She has her hair cutted every month at the same salon.
Correct:She has her hair cut every month at the same salon.
Cut is an irregular verb (cut-cut-cut), so the participle is also cut, not the invented form cutted.
Incorrect:We didn't had the roof repaired last year.
Correct:We didn't have the roof repaired last year.
After the auxiliary did, the main verb returns to the base form have, not had — didn't had marks the past twice.
Incorrect:Have you had serviced the car yet?
Correct:Have you had the car serviced yet?
Even in a question, the object the car comes between had and serviced; Have you had serviced the car puts them in the wrong order.
Incorrect:I need having my passport renewed before the trip.
Correct:I need to have my passport renewed before the trip.
After need, when it expresses obligation, the infinitive to have is needed, not the gerund having.
Incorrect:By next Friday, I will had the report translated.
Correct:By next Friday, I will have the report translated.
After will, the base form have is needed. The object the report and V3 translated come after it.
Incorrect:— Have you had the printer fixed? — Yes, I've.
Correct:— Have you had the printer fixed? — Yes, I have.
In a short affirmative answer, have is not contracted; the contraction 've is possible only before another word (I've done it), not at the end of a sentence.