CAUSATIVE VERB

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CAUSATIVE VERB. A verb that denotes causing something to happen. Such verbs are often formed from adjectives or nouns by means of causative suffixes: harden (to cause to become hard; to make hard), purify (to cause to become pure; to make pure), harmonize (to cause or create harmony; to make harmonious). Some linguists use the term to describe a variety of verbs where there is an underlying meaning of causation: kill (cause to die); put, bring, take, send (cause to move somewhere else); burn, as in Alfred burned/burnt the cakes (cause to burn). The term is also applied to the verbs let, make, have, and get. The first three can be followed by an object plus a bare infinitive, but get needs a to-infinitive: You should let/make/have the children tidy their own rooms; get them to tidy things up. Have and get can be followed by an object and a participle: We soon had the car going again; we got it repaired. These patterns, however, may also have a non-causative meaning: I had my wallet stolen; You'll get people pestering you.

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