As a special form of the fifth sentence pattern SVOC, perception and causative verbs take a bare infinitive (the base form of a verb without to) as their complement. This is a core point of high-school English.
Basic Rules
Perception verb + O + base form/-ing/past participle:
- Base form: seeing or hearing an action in its entirety “I saw him cross the street. (I saw him cross the street.)” ← I saw the whole action until he crossed it
- -ing: seeing or hearing an action in progress “I saw him crossing the street. (I saw him while he was crossing the street.)”
- Past participle: passive state “I heard my name called. (I heard my name being called.)”
Perception verbs: see / hear / feel / watch / notice / listen to / look at
Causative verb + O + base form/past participle:
- make O base form: force “make someone do〜” / make O past participle: “put someone in a state of being〜”
- have O base form: request or expectation “have someone do〜” / have O past participle: “have something done”
- let O base form: permission “let someone do〜” (no past participle form)
- get O to base form: persuasion “get someone to do〜” (only get requires to) / get O past participle ← this is possible
It is an important rule that to is added in the passive voice of perception and causative verbs that take bare infinitives: “He was made to apologize. (He was forced to apologize.)”
I heard him sing in the next room. (I heard him sing in the next room.) ← base form
She made her son clean his room. (She made her son clean his room.) ← force
I had my hair cut. (I had my hair cut.) ← have + past participle
She got me to help her. (She asked me to help her.) ← get requires to
He was made to wait for an hour. (He was made to wait for an hour.) ← to returns in the passive voice
Points to Note
① Distinguishing the four causative verbs:
- make: force, even against the other person’s will “My father made me study English.”
- have: an expected or professional request “I had the plumber fix the sink.”
- let: permission or allowing “Let me try.”
- get: persuasion or request (to is required) “I got him to lend me the book.”
② The two meanings of have + O + past participle: ① have something done (a request) “I had my hair cut.” ② suffer something “I had my wallet stolen. (My wallet was stolen.)” Judge from the context.
③ To returns in the passive voice: “She made me wait. → I was made to wait by her.” “He saw me enter. → I was seen to enter by him.” This is a special rule for bare infinitives after perception and causative verbs.
④ help + O + (to) base form: to may or may not be used. “He helped me (to) carry the box.” In American English, to is often omitted.
- Perception verbs: see / hear / feel + O + base form/-ing/past participle
- Causatives: make = force, have = request, let = permission, get = persuasion (to required)
- To returns in the passive voice: was made to / was seen to
- have + O + past participle: have something done or suffer something
- help + O + (to) base form: to may be omitted
Practice
- Translate “I saw him swim across the river” into English (perception verb see + base form).
- Translate “The teacher made us write a composition” into English (causative make).
- Translate “He had his watch repaired” into English (have + O + past participle).