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One clinic, many doctors: causative have and get: have something done

This B2 ESL lesson plan teaches have something done through the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where specialists and labs came together under one roof.

Grammar
Have or get + object + past participle for a job someone else does (I had my blood pressure checked.), in every tense, with by + the person when it matters.
Topic
How the Mayo brothers brought partners, labs and one record per patient together, plus a routine checkup today, with words such as referral, reschedule and fill out.
Activities
An explainer to read, a checkup and a reader's voice memo to hear, self-checking drills, a booking chat, a visit to order and a role-play wheel.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: the doctor will see you now

    • PictureUnlock
    • Open a box and answerOpen the boxUnlock
    • Study the words: a visit to the clinicVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: a name too long for the phone

    • Look at the picture: a clinic from the early 1900sPictureUnlock
    • Read Leona's explainer on The Why DeskArticleUnlock
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Match the pairs: the start of each paragraph and its headingMatchUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: three reschedules later

    • Listen to Leona and MoeListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the Reader's Rebuttal: Dawn's voice memoListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: I had my blood pressure checked

    • Study the scheme: have something doneGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: use the words in bracketsFill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: say it with have or getFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: who did the job?QuizUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: at the clinic desk

    • Choose the right replies: book a checkup with IonaChatTry it
    • Sort the words into the correct columns: the phrases of a visitSort into columnsUnlock
    • Put the steps of a clinic visit in the correct orderDrag and dropUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answer: role-play a clinic visitSpin the wheelUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: words and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: new sentencesChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: use the words in bracketsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: which sentence is correct?QuizUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Put the parts of Iona's message in the correct orderDrag and dropUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: Leona answers DawnChoose the optionUnlock

35 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Health vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • referral
  • appointment
  • group practice
  • under one roof
  • blood pressure
  • microscope
  • medical record
  • receptionist
  • fill out

Grammar: have / get something done

Have something done means that someone else does a job for you, often as a service: I had my blood pressure checked means a nurse checked it. The pattern is have or get + object + past participle. A visit to a clinic is full of such jobs, so learners put the object between have and the participle and carry the pattern through every tense.

Have / get something done

Use have or get + object + past participle when someone else does a job for you: I had my blood pressure checked (a nurse checked it).

Have + object + past participle, every person

Only have changes with the person: I have my teeth cleaned, he has his blood pressure checked, the clinic has its floors cleaned. The participle is never the base form: have my eyes tested, not have my eyes test.

PersonExample (present simple)
II have my teeth cleaned twice a year.
youYou have your eyes tested every year.
heHe has his blood pressure checked at work.
sheShe has her records sent to her family doctor.
itThe clinic has its floors cleaned every night.
weWe have our tests done at the same lab.
theyThey have their teeth cleaned in June.

Every tense, and after could or decided to

Have or get carries the tense: I'm getting my knee checked tomorrow, I've had this appointment rescheduled three times. After a modal or to, keep the base form: a patient could have a tissue sample diagnosed, the brothers decided to have a building designed.

Every tense: have or get

Tensewith havewith get
present simpleI have my eyes tested every year.I get my eyes tested every year.
present continuousI'm having my knee checked tomorrow.I'm getting my knee checked tomorrow.
past simpleShe had her blood pressure checked.She got her blood pressure checked.
past continuousHe was having his eyes tested when I called.He was getting his eyes tested when I called.
present perfectWe've had our records transferred.We've gotten our records transferred.
will / going toI'll have it rescheduled.I'm going to get it rescheduled.
can, should, need to…You can have your results sent.You can get your results sent.

At the clinic and in Rochester

  • I've had this appointment rescheduled three times.
  • Did you have your medical records transferred?
  • Patients could have tests done and see a specialist on the same day.
  • A patient could have a tissue sample diagnosed during the same operation.
  • The brothers decided to have a building designed for their kind of practice.
  • I had my blood pressure checked there last week, on my lunch break.

Have or get? Questions and negatives

Here have and get mean the same, and get is a little more informal. Questions and negatives follow the tense: Have you had your eyes tested? I didn't get my blood pressure checked. American English says I've gotten my eyes tested.

have or get?

Here they mean the same. Get is a little more informal and very common when people speak. In American English, the present perfect of get is have gotten: I've gotten my eyes tested.

Questions and negatives

QuestionNegative
Have you had your eyes tested?I haven't had my eyes tested since college.
Did you get your blood pressure checked?I didn't get my blood pressure checked.
When are you having your teeth cleaned?I'm not having my teeth cleaned this week.

By + the person, and who did the job?

Add by only when the person matters: I had my knee checked by a specialist. Word order changes the meaning: I had checked my blood pressure is the past perfect, so I did it myself, while I had my blood pressure checked means someone else did.

by + the person

Add by + the person only when it matters or is new: I had my knee checked by a specialist. When it's clear who did the job, leave it out: I had my blood pressure checked (a nurse did it, of course).

Who did the job?

I checked my blood pressure: I did it myself, with a machine. I had my blood pressure checked: someone else did it for me. I had checked my blood pressure is the past perfect: I did it myself, before another moment in the past. For a service, the object comes before the past participle.

Common mistakes

Four slips break the pattern: I had checked my eyes by a specialist, have my eyes test, get my blood pressure to check and I'm having checked my knee. Object first, then the participle, with no to: I'm having my knee checked tomorrow.

  • Last week, I had checked my eyes by a specialist.

    Last week, I had my eyes checked by a specialist.

    a service: have + object + past participle

  • I want to have my eyes test.

    I want to have my eyes tested.

    the past participle, not the base form

  • I need to get my blood pressure to check.

    I need to get my blood pressure checked.

    no to + verb after the object

  • I'm having checked my knee tomorrow.

    I'm having my knee checked tomorrow.

    the object comes before the past participle

More lessons on this grammar: Passive voice lessons and exercises

Try the have something done exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 20 auto-checked exercises
  • 6 games
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • say that someone else did a job for you: I had my blood pressure checked. I'm getting my eyes tested tomorrow.
  • move have or get through the tenses: I've had this appointment rescheduled three times. I'll have it rescheduled.
  • ask and answer about services: Have you had your eyes tested? I haven't had my eyes tested since college.
  • tell a service from a job you did yourself: I had my blood pressure checked (a nurse did it) and I checked my blood pressure (with a machine).
  • book a checkup: Can I have the form sent to me by email first? Could I get the results sent to my family doctor too?

Lesson 7 is the third lesson of Health breakthroughs, unit 2 of English B2.1 · How the World Works. It follows the passives of B1.2 and lesson 6: I had my eyes tested works like a passive with have in front. Lesson 8 closes the unit with the passive with two objects. A clinic, where nurses, labs and receptionists do jobs for patients all day, is a natural place for the pattern.

Students open boxes of questions about doctors, waiting times and putting off appointments, then learn twelve words, from transfer and reschedule to under one roof and fill out, with pictures and audio. They read Leona's explainer on how the Mayo Clinic began, then hear her get a checkup from Moe, a nurse at a walk-in clinic, and Dawn from small-town Minnesota stand up for local clinics, both AI-voiced. The grammar chapter has the scheme and five self-checking drills, among them a quiz that asks who did the job. The speaking chapter builds a clinic role-play: a booking chat with Iona, phrases to sort, the steps of a visit to order and a wheel of role-play cards.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: a match, an anagram, gaps with the lesson's words and a memory game; then form choices and gaps in new sentences, a quiz on the right sentence and word order; then Iona's reminder message to put in order and Leona's answer to Dawn with forms to choose.

Grammar:
have something done · get something done · causative have and get
Topic:
Mayo Clinic · Rochester, Minnesota · the Mayo brothers · group practice · health services · checkups · The Why Desk

Teaching tips

  • Start with jobs other people do for you: a haircut, a car repair, an eye test. Students say who did each one, then turn it around: I had my hair cut. I got my car fixed.
  • Ask who has a family doctor before the reading, and whether one doctor or a team is better. Students then read to find what the Mayo brothers put under one roof, and when.
  • Play the checkup twice: first to hear who prefers a family doctor and who prefers a team, then for every have or get + participle. Students list what Leona has had done.
  • Contrast two word orders: write I had checked my eyes next to I had my eyes checked. Students say who did the job in each, then use the second in the role-play.

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The whole course: English B2.1 · How the World Works

32 lessons for adults at B2 in American English, each answering one question about how the world works. The team of The Why Desk, a small online magazine in Pittsburgh, takes on one question a week, from the day a computer beat the world chess champion to eight people sealed inside Biosphere 2. Learners tell stories with narrative tenses, speculate about the past and the future, and report what experts claim. The practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 AI and the future of work

    narrative tenses, by and until, be bound to and be likely to, the future perfect

    1. Lesson 1Checkmate: the day a computer beat the championNarrative tenses: past simple, past continuous and past perfect
    2. Lesson 2The robot car that crossed the desertTime prepositions: by, until, within, throughout, in time and on time
    3. Lesson 3Can a chatbot fool you?Probability about the future: be bound to, be likely to, the chances are
    4. Lesson 4By 2035, what will AI have designed?The future perfect simple: will have + past participle

  2. Unit 2 Health breakthroughs

    the third conditional, the past perfect and past continuous passive, have something done, the passive with two objects

    1. Lesson 5The moldy melon that changed medicineThe third conditional: if + had done, would have done
    2. Lesson 61.8 million Polio PioneersThe past perfect passive and the past continuous passive
    3. Lesson 7 · you're hereOne clinic, many doctorsHave / get something done
    4. Lesson 8A kidney from a twinThe passive with two objects

  3. Unit 3 Moving people

    the past perfect continuous, the passive infinitive and -ing form, it's worth and there's no point, the future in the past

    1. Lesson 9Six years to the golden spikeThe past perfect continuous vs the past perfect simple
    2. Lesson 10Riding a pod with no driverThe passive infinitive and the passive -ing form
    3. Lesson 11The town that painted bike lanes firstIt's worth, there's no point and it's no use + -ing
    4. Lesson 12The highways that were supposed to take 13 yearsThe future in the past

  4. Unit 4 Wildlife comebacks

    reporting verbs with a that clause, with an object and infinitive and with -ing, verbs of perception

    1. Lesson 13Did wolves really change Yellowstone's rivers?Reporting verbs + that clause
    2. Lesson 14Bringing a parrot back from the edgeReporting verbs + object + (not) to + base form
    3. Lesson 15The beavers that came by parachuteReporting verbs + -ing and verb + preposition + -ing
    4. Lesson 16Fifteen bison take the trainVerbs of perception + object + base form or -ing

  5. Unit 5 Pop culture goes global

    comment adverbs, wish and if only for the present and the past, have someone do and get someone to do

    1. Lesson 17The party that started hip hopComment adverbs: apparently, supposedly, undoubtedly
    2. Lesson 18Slide to the left!Wish and if only for wishes about now
    3. Lesson 19If only they'd kept SupermanWish and if only + past perfect for regrets
    4. Lesson 20The hit factory on West Grand BoulevardCausative have and get: have someone do, get someone to do

  6. Unit 6 Money and smart choices

    -ever words and no matter, should have and could have, prepositions for numbers and change, it's time and would rather

    1. Lesson 21The bank that never closed-ever words and no matter
    2. Lesson 22One marshmallow now or two later?Should have, shouldn't have and could have
    3. Lesson 23Benjamin Franklin's 200-year giftPrepositions for numbers and change
    4. Lesson 24Why buy a drill you'll use once?It's (high) time and would rather + past simple

  7. Unit 7 Language and communication

    must have, might have and can't have, verb prefixes and suffixes, past modals in continuous and passive forms, agreement with quantities

    1. Lesson 25How did one man write down a language?Past modals of deduction: must have, might have, can't have
    2. Lesson 26Why do Americans write “color”?Verb prefixes and suffixes: misspell, rewrite, simplify, shorten
    3. Lesson 27The joke that needed a smileyPast modals in continuous and passive forms
    4. Lesson 28Can preschoolers save a language?Subject-verb agreement with quantities and collective nouns

  8. Unit 8 Exploring the extremes

    dimension nouns, the future continuous and future perfect continuous, compound adjectives, only, even and just

    1. Lesson 29A walk on the ocean floorDimension nouns and phrases: depth, width, height
    2. Lesson 30Six months of night at the South PoleThe future continuous and the future perfect continuous
    3. Lesson 31Flying on pedal powerCompound adjectives with numbers and participles
    4. Lesson 32Two years under glassFocus adverbs: only, even, just and at all

Questions about this lesson

What does “have something done” mean?
It means that someone else does a job for you, usually as a service: I had my blood pressure checked means a nurse checked it, not me. It's have + object + past participle, and get works the same way: I'm getting my eyes tested tomorrow. The B2 lesson One clinic, many doctors on edio.ai teaches it with a routine checkup and the story of the Mayo Clinic.
How do you form have something done?
Use have + object + past participle, with have in the tense you need: I have my teeth cleaned twice a year, She had her blood pressure checked, I'm having my knee checked tomorrow, We've had our records transferred. Questions and negatives come from have: Did you have your records transferred? I haven't had my eyes tested. The scheme in One clinic, many doctors on edio.ai shows every person and tense.
What is the causative have?
Causative have is another name for have something done: you make a job happen, but someone else does it. The brothers decided to have a building designed for their kind of practice: they didn't design it themselves. Causative get means the same and sounds more informal. One clinic, many doctors, a B2 lesson on edio.ai, uses both, and have someone do comes later in the same course.
What's the difference between have something done and get something done?
In most sentences, they mean the same: I had my eyes tested and I got my eyes tested both say that someone tested them for you. Get is a little more informal and very common in speech. In American English, the present perfect of get is have gotten: I've gotten my eyes tested. The tense table in One clinic, many doctors on edio.ai puts the two side by side.
Is it “I had my eyes checked” or “I had checked my eyes”?
For a service, it's I had my eyes checked: the object goes before the participle. I had checked my eyes is the past perfect, so it means you did it yourself before another past moment. The same order fixes I'm having checked my knee: say I'm having my knee checked. This slip opens the common mistakes in One clinic, many doctors, a B2 lesson on edio.ai, and a quiz there asks who did each job.
How did the Mayo Clinic start?
It grew from a family practice in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. William Worrall Mayo came there in 1863, and his sons Will and Charlie joined him in 1883 and 1888. In the 1890s, the brothers began taking in partners; labs were built up from 1905, and one medical record per patient followed in 1907. The new building opened on March 6, 1914. One clinic, many doctors on edio.ai tells the story and treats Mayo's claim to be first as its own.
Why is it called the Mayo Clinic?
Doctors who came to Rochester to watch surgery called the sessions “the Mayos' clinic,” and railroads and newspapers picked the name up. The formal name was far too long: by 1912, it was “The Doctors Mayo, Stinchfield, Graham, Plummer, Judd and Balfour.” “Mayo Clinic” became official when the new building opened on March 6, 1914, carved in stone above the door. One clinic, many doctors on edio.ai explains.
How do I teach have something done to B2 students?
Start from everyday services students pay for, such as haircuts, repairs and checkups, and ask who did the work. Then build the pattern and move have through the tenses. One clinic, many doctors on edio.ai goes from Leona's explainer and her checkup to the scheme, a gap-fill with the words in brackets and four more drills, then turns the speaking chapter into a clinic role-play.
What's a good game for practicing have something done?
Try “Busy week”: each student gets a calendar card full of errands, such as a haircut, a car repair and an eye test, and the others ask about it: When are you having your car fixed? Did you get your hair cut on Monday? In One clinic, many doctors on edio.ai, a wheel of role-play cards for pairs ends the speaking chapter, from booking a checkup to having results sent.
What's good homework for have something done?
Good homework checks the word order first: choices between get your car fixed and get fixed your car, gaps built from words in brackets, and a quiz on which sentence is right. All ten homework tasks in One clinic, many doctors on edio.ai check themselves, and the last two are short texts: a clinic reminder to put in order and Leona's answer to a reader.
How do you practice have something done one-to-one?
Swap the roles of patient and receptionist: the student books a checkup, asks to have their eyes tested too and to have the results sent on, then plays the receptionist. The chat in One clinic, many doctors on edio.ai works without a partner: the student books with Iona, and each wrong reply has a slip like have my blood pressure check.
Are there interactive exercises for have something done?
Yes. Without an account, this page plays three parts of One clinic, many doctors, a B2 lesson on edio.ai: Leona's checkup with Moe; a gap-fill built from the words in brackets; and a chat to book a checkup with Iona. Everything else needs an account.
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