Causative Verbs

Causative verbs cause an action to happen, either by allowing it to happen or by forcing it to happen. Let, make, and have are causative verbs.

I had the house painted.

The house didn’t get painted all by itself; someone had to cause the painting to happen.

We insisted that she take the rest of the day off to recover from her cold.

She made me do it!

Anna couldn’t get the bank to reimburse her for their error.

They should have this place cleaned up a little.