make/get/have

Question

Hi,1.High inflation will make unemployment worse.Can I use 'get' or ' have' instead of 'make' here?2.Make sure you have the car ready by tomorrow.Can I use 'make' or 'get' instead of 'have' here?3.He got all the answers wrong.Can I use 'made' or 'had' instead of 'got' here?Thanks a lot.

A Cornish Pasty · Accepted Answer

1. No. But you could say "High inflation will make unemployment get worse".

2. Yes, but "Make sure you make" isn't very natural. "Have" and "get" are the preferred options.

3. You can't use "made", but you can say "He had got all the answers wrong", or "He'd got all the answers wrong", which turns the sentence's tense into the past perfect.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi A Cornish Pasty,

Thank you very much for your reply.
Here are my questions as follows:

1.Make sure you have/get the car ready by tomorrow.

Is there any difference in meaning between 'have' and 'get' here?

2.He got all the answers wrong.

Can I use 'had' instead of 'got' here?

3."We made the house more secure by putting locks on the windows."

Can I use 'got' or had' instead of 'made' here?

4.Can I use 'make' and 'have instead of 'get' in the sentences below?

(1)I'll get the children read for school.

(2)Let me get this clear; is she married or not?

(3)Sometimes she gets me so angry!

(4)Don't get the children too excited.

(5)He was terrified of getting her pregnant.

5.Can I use 'make'(made) and 'get'(got) instead of 'have'(had) in the sentences below?

(1)It had me worried when I heard about your accident.

(2)He likes to have the window open.

(3)I'll have it finished by tomorrow.

Thanks a lot.

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymous1.Make sure you have/get the car ready by tomorrow.

Is there any difference in meaning between 'have' and 'get' here?

Only a slight difference. Having the car ready focuses on the final state of readiness. Getting the car ready focuses on the activity needed to cause the car to become ready.

Anonymous2.He got all the answers wrong.

Can I use 'had' instead of 'got' here?

Yes. Having the answers wrong focuses on the final state of the examination paper; it contains only wrong answers. Getting the answers wrong focuses on the poor performance of the person who consistently did wrong things to produce only wrong answers.

Anonymous3."We made the house more secure by putting locks on the windows."

Can I use 'got' or had' instead of 'made' here?

You can use had. got is borderline. Most people wouldn't say it that way.

Anonymous4.Can I use 'make' and 'have instead of 'get' in the sentences below?
...

* indicates 'not acceptable'

(1)I'll [get / have / *make] the children ready for school.
(2)Let me [get / *have / ?make] this clear; is she married or not?

(3)Sometimes she [gets / *has / makes] me so angry!

(4)Don't [get / *have / make] the children too excited.

(5)He was terrified of [getting / *having / making] her pregnant.
___
Usually 'get this clear' asks for information. Let me get this clear. Are you coming with us or not?
Usually 'make this clear' imparts information. Let me make this clear. Jack is not coming with us.
'have this clear' is not used.

Anonymous5.Can I use 'make'(made) and 'get'(got) instead of 'have'(had) in the sentences below?
... (1)It [had / made / got] me worried when I heard about your accident.

(2)He likes to [have / *make / ?get] the window open.

(3)I'll [have / *make / get] it finished by tomorrow.
___
He likes to have the window open means he's happy when the window is open.
He likes to get the window open can only be used in rare cases. It means he likes to make the effort required to open the window (for example, when it is stuck or resists being opened).
CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Hi CJ,
Thank you so much for telling me their difference. I have some more questions as follows:

1."We made/had the house more secure by putting locks on the windows."
What is the difference between 'had' and 'made' here? Why is 'got' borderline here?

2."Sometimes she gets / makes me so angry!"
What is the difference between 'get' and 'make' here?

3."He was terrified of getting / making her pregnant."
What is the difference between 'getting' and 'making' here?

4."It had / made / got me worried when I heard about your accident."
What is the difference among 'had', 'made' and 'got' here?

5."Eating the unripe apples made him ill."
Can I use 'got' and 'had' here instead of 'made'?

6."Within minutes he had the whole audience laughing and clapping."
Can I use 'made' and 'got' instead of 'had' here? Is there any difference if they could?

7.I wonder why 'make' works in "We made the house more secure by putting locks on the windows.", but doesn't work in 'I'll get / have the children ready for school.' Are there any reasons to explain about it?

Thanks a lot.

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymous1."We made/had the house more secure by putting locks on the windows."
What is the difference between 'had' and 'made' here? Why is 'got' borderline here?

I don't know what I was thinking! had is not acceptable with the by phrase. Only made works here. By 'borderline' I mean you could use it and be understood, but that most people would not use it. got is borderline in that sense. got isn't normally used with secure. (You almost have to memorize which adjectives go with got and which don't.)

Anonymous2."Sometimes she gets / makes me so angry!"
What is the difference between 'get' and 'make' here?

No significant difference. makes is in a slightly higher register. make angry is probably the commonest combination.

Anonymous3."He was terrified of getting / making her pregnant."
What is the difference between 'getting' and 'making' here?

No significant difference. making is in a slightly higher register. get (s.o.) pregnant is probably the commonest combination.

Anonymous4."It had / made / got me worried when I heard about your accident."
What is the difference among 'had', 'made' and 'got' here?

Again made is in a higher register. had is fairly high register as well, but is more stative in nature. With had one thinks of perhaps a whole period of time in which the worrying took place. With made or got the focus is on the relatively sudden change from not being worried to being worried.

Anonymous5."Eating the unripe apples made him ill."
Can I use 'got' and 'had' here instead of 'made'?

No. Absolutely not. got and had don't combine with the adjective ill when there is an object. For example, you can say "I got ill" but not "The apples got me ill". "I had ill" and "The apples had me ill" are both impossible.

Anonymous6."Within minutes he had the whole audience laughing and clapping."
Can I use 'made' and 'got' instead of 'had' here? Is there any difference if they could?

made is impossible with those -ing forms. "Soon Lucy had the kitten eating out of her hand" is fine, but never "Soon Lucy made the kitten eating out of her hand". Again, got is borderline. I don't recommend it. It's lower register, and doesn't go well with the -ing. "Soon Lucy got the kitten eating out of her hand" is better said adding to, thus: "Soon Lucy got the kitten to eating out of her hand", but this is still very informal. (Likewise for "Within minutes he got the whole audience to laughing and clapping.")

Anonymous7.I wonder why 'make' works in "We made the house more secure by putting locks on the windows.", but doesn't work in 'I'll get / have the children ready for school.' Are there any reasons to explain about it?

As explained above, these are idiomatic combinations based on the usage of native speakers and not on logic. You may need to memorize certain combinations like make secure and get ready as if they were idiomatic units.
CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Hi CJ,

Many thanks again for your help.
I have two questions here:

1."Within minutes he had the whole audience laughing and clapping."

Is it fine if I rewrite the above sentence with 'made' and 'got' in this way as follow:

"Within minutes he made the whole audience laugh and clap."

"Within minutes he got the whole audience to laugh and clap."

What is the difference if they work here?

2."Can we have/get our ball back, please, sir?

"I'll have/get your cat down from the tree in a minute."

Does 'get' also work here and what is the diffence?

Thank you very much.

Anonymous · Answer

Anonymous1."Within minutes he had the whole audience laughing and clapping."

Is it fine if I rewrite the above sentence with 'made' and 'got' in this way as follows:

"Within minutes he made the whole audience laugh and clap."

"Within minutes he got the whole audience to laugh and clap."

What is the difference if they work here?

2.Do 'get' and 'make' also work here and what is the difference if they are fine?
(1) Can we have/get/make our ball back, please, sir?

(2) I'll have/get/make your cat down from the tree in a minute.

3. "Soon Lucy had the kitten eating out of her hand"
Can I use 'eat' instead of 'eating' here? Is there any difference between them?

4.Which is correct?
(1)Don't make her cry.
(2)Don't have her cry.
(3)Don't have her crying.
(4)Don't get her to cry.

Could anyone please reply to my questions above?
Thank you very much for your help.

CalifJim · Answer

"Within minutes he had the whole audience laughing and clapping."

Is it ~~fine~~ all right if I rewrite the above sentence with 'made' and 'got' in this way as follows:

"Within minutes he made the whole audience laugh and clap." Not good. He did not say, "You must laugh and clap or I will punish you". That would be "making them laugh and clap".

"Within minutes he got the whole audience to laugh and clap." OK. He succeeded in his attempts to cause them to laugh and clap.

___

"Can we have/get our ball back, please, sir?
Can we have ...? = Will you please fetch the ball and give it to us? (Or just "give it to us" if he is already holding it.)

Can we get ...? = Will you permit us to fetch the ball for ourselves? (Some speakers use this one as if it were Can we have ...? -- same meaning.)

"I'll have/get your cat down from the tree in a minute."
I'll have it down .... = I will successfully arrange things so that the cat will be down from the tree. (It doesn't say whether he's going to do it, or someone else that he asks or orders to do it.)

I'll get it down .... = I will perform the action of taking the cat from the tree. (He will do it personally.) (Some speakers use this one as if it were I'll have it down -- same meaning.)

"Soon Lucy had the kitten eating out of her hand"
Can I use 'eat' instead of 'eating' here? It's anomalous with "soon". OK if you remove "soon".

Soon she had the kitten eating out of her hand. ~ She tried and tried. Eventually she trained the kitten so that it would eat of her hand. It didn't take her long to train the kitten to do this -- only a few days.

She had the kitten eat out of her hand. ~ She arranged things for the kitten so that the kitten could eat out of her hand. Perhaps she had no bowl for the kitten to use.

4.Which is correct?
(1)Don't make her cry. <<< Correct. Don't scare her. Don't tell her a very sad story. Don't frustrate her. Don't slap her.
(2)Don't have her cry. <<< Correct, as a comment from a playwright to a director of a play. At this point in my play, don't have her cry. (Don't arrange the scene so that the actress cries.) Have the actress laugh instead.

(3)Don't have her crying. <<< Same as (2) except the focus is on a continued period of crying.

4)Don't get her to cry. <<< Difficult to contextualize as I did with the first three. It's grammatical, but there's no situation in which it would be a very useful thing to say. It's like saying, "Don't succeed in your attempts to make her cry". It doesn't make a lot of sense.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Hi CJ,

Thank you very much for your helpful reply and correcting my mistakes. I'm still a little confused about their usage.

1.What is the difference in meaning between the three sentences?
(1)I got him to help me when I moved the furniture.
(2)I had him help me when I moved the furniture.
(3) I had him helping me when I moved the furniture.

2.Do 'get' and 'have' both mean either I cleaned it myself or I asked someone else to do it here? Does 'made' work here?
(1)I got the house cleaned.
(2)I had the house cleaned.

3."I made the house more secure by putting locks on the windows."
Does 'made' mean I did it myself?

4."I'll have/get the car ready soon."
Do 'have' and 'get' mean either I'll fix it myself or I'll ask someone else to do it ?

5.Are all the sentences correct? What is the difference among them?
(1)He got the radio going again .
(2)He got the radio to go again.
(3)He had the radio go again.
(4)He had the radio going again.

6."Within minutes he had the whole audience laughing and clapping."
(1)Do you mean he had the whole audience laughing and clapping without his attempts to do so?
(2)Does the sentence below work?
"Within minutes he had the whole audience laugh and clap."
What does it mean?

7."Soon Lucy had the kitten eating out of her hand"
What does 'eating out of her hand' mean here?

8.I'll have it down .... = I will successfully arrange things so that the cat will be down from the tree. (It doesn't say whether he's going to do it, or someone else that he asks or orders to do it.)

Do you mean here that he may do it himself or ask someone else to do it, both are possible in the example? If I use 'get it down.. instead, does it mean either he does it himself or asks someone else to do it?

9.What is the difference between the two sentences?
(1)He had me do all the work for him.
(2)He had me doing all the work for him.

Thank you very much for your help.

CalifJim · Answer

1.What is the difference in meaning between the three sentences?
(1)I got him to help me when I moved the furniture.
(2)I had him help me when I moved the furniture.
(3) I had him helping me when I moved the furniture.
(1) and (2) are basically the same. But got (1) implies something more like persuading. had (2) implies something more like ordering, more like arranging for something to be done..
(1) focuses more on calling upon someone for assistance -- asking someone to help, and obtaining their consent.
(2) focuses more on how you solved the problem of moving the furniture. You arranged for someone to help.

(3) is not possible. helping takes place a number of times over a period of time. It involves different acts of helping from time to time. when I moved the furniture, on the other hand, only happened once. So you can't combine the two; they contradict one another.

2.Do 'get' and 'have' both mean either I cleaned it myself or I asked someone else to do it here? Does 'made' work here?
(1)I got the house cleaned.
(2)I had the house cleaned.
(1) means either: I successfully finished cleaning the house. (I did it myself).
or: I successfully persuaded (or asked or hired) someone else to clean the house, and they did it.
(2) means either: I hired (or ordered) someone else to clean the house, and they did it.
or: The house was clean because I had cleaned it myself earlier.

or: The house was clean because someone had cleaned it earlier.

___
made the house cleaned does not work. No. Generally speaking, make doesn't work with past participles like cleaned, though there are exceptions.
You can't say make the furniture polished, make the house painted, make the window opened, and similar combinations.

3."I made the house more secure by putting locks on the windows."
Does 'made' mean I did it myself? Yes. Actually, not just made. I made and the absence of any mention of anyone else means I did it myself.
I can say, however, I made the house more secure by having Acme Burglar Alarm Company install a burglar alarm. What I did myself is call the company. I did not install the alarm myself.

4."I'll have/get the car ready soon."
Do 'have' and 'get' mean either I'll fix it myself or I'll ask someone else to do it ?
Yes, but most people would interpret get only as 'I myself will do it'. have can easily go either way.

5.Are all the sentences correct? What is the difference among them?
(1)He got the radio going again .
(2)He got the radio to go again.
(3)He had the radio go again.
(4)He had the radio going again.
(1) and (2) have the same meaning. (1) is the usual way of saying it. It means he fixed the radio. (2) is not as usual because it could seem as if he talked to the radio to try to persuade it to go again.

(3) is strange. It seems as if he ordered the radio to do something. It's grammatical, but it makes no sense.

(4) The radio was going again. It was in working condition again. That's because he fixed it.

6."Within minutes he had the whole audience laughing and clapping."
(1)Do you mean he had the whole audience laughing and clapping without his attempts to do so? He did things for a short period of time which resulted in the fact that the audience was laughing and clapping. He may have wanted them to laugh and clap; he may not have wanted that. But most likely he did want them to laugh and clap.
(2)Does the sentence below work? No. It doesn't work very well.
"Within minutes he had the whole audience laugh and clap."
What does it mean? It means: Before much time had passed, he said to the audience, "Laugh! Clap!" And they obeyed him.

7."Soon Lucy had the kitten eating out of her hand"
What does 'eating out of her hand' mean here? Lucy put food in her hand. The kitten ate the food that was in Lucy's hand.

8.I'll have it down .... = I will successfully arrange things so that the cat will be down from the tree. (It doesn't say whether he's going to do it, or someone else that he asks or orders to do it.)

Do you mean here that he may do it himself or ask someone else to do it, both are possible in the example? Yes. Exactly.
If I use 'get it down.. instead, does it mean either he does it himself or asks someone else to do it? Yes, it can mean he himself or someone else, but most people interpret I'll get ... to mean I myself will get ... in most situations.

9.What is the difference between the two sentences?
(1)He had me do all the work for him.
(2)He had me doing all the work for him.
(1) He ordered me to do all the work for him, and I did it. This happened once.

(2) He arranged the situation so that whenever there was work to do, he ordered me to do it, and I did it. This continued to happen over a period of time. It became a habit.
CJ

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