0

In the future, maybe we can focus on a frame for a few seconds and have the picture instantly appear in some kind of digital storage.

I know the structure "have somebody do something" means "to ask somebody to do something for you", but "have something do something" is rather new to me.

Is it correct? If it is, what exactly does it mean?

Improve this question
3
  • 1
    You say I know the structure "have somebody do something" means "to ask somebody to do something for you". But it's basically the same usage in both cases. Just think of "have somebody do something" as "cause somebody to do something", then for the new context, it's "...focus on a frame for a few seconds and cause the picture to instantly appear".
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jun 19 at 17:57
  • Yeah I did consider the fact that they might be the same case but since I interpreted have as ask, I was a bit rigid and thought "ask something to do something" might be wrong. But "cause something to do something" sounds much better.
    – An IELTS Learner
    Commented Jun 20 at 2:50
  • 1
    Note: I don't know the source, but this sounds like something that would be spoken. If I wrote this for any purpose that required thinking carefully and editing, I would probably reword, like "... and the picture would instantly appear."
    – Andy Bonner
    Commented Jun 21 at 20:03

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
3

Merriam Webster gives this as one of the definitions of "have":

7a: to cause or command to do something — used with the infinitive without to

| have the children stay

As you mentioned, it can be used when you command a person to perform an action. It can also be used when you cause something to perform an action.

In both cases, it is a gentler option than saying "make" while keeping the same meaning. You could say make the picture instantly appear and it would not be incorrect at all, but it sounds a little more forceful. It carries the very slight implication that it is natural for the picture to not appear instantly, and that it must be forced to do so. Compare it to this more dramatic example: I can make John meet you at the entrance sounds like John dislikes this and must be forced to do it. Unless that's what you mean to communicate, it is preferable to say I can have John meet you at the entrance.

Improve this answer
3

In both cases you can (approximately) replace ''have X do Y'' by ''cause X to do Y''.

The meaning of the sentence with ''cause'' is not precisely the same as the ''have'' form, but it is similar, and you can see that pattern will work with both your examples.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .