Como usar “I will have someone do something” em inglês

By Ana | Podcast Inglês Online

Jul 25
Como usar “I will have someone do something” em inglês

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Hi, there. Nesse episódio do podcast Inglês Online eu falo sobre uma estrutura comum do inglês, que pode soar meio estranha para os brasileiros no início.

Transcrição

Hello, everybody. What’s up? Today we have a new episode of the inglesonline podcast. To download or just listen to other episodes and download transcripts, go to inglesonline.com.br and click Podcast Inglesonline.

Today I’ll focus on a particular structure that can sound really weird to our Brazilian ears before we’ve had the chance to hear or read it a lot and get used to it. It involves the verb HAVE, which thankfully is a word most English students are familiar with. So this podcast will present you with a few examples, and hopefully it’ll help clarify how this structure works, and it will enable you to recognize and understand it later on when you’re watching movies or TV shows.

Ms. JonesPicture this: Ms. Jones is an admin (which is short for administrative assistant). Look at the picture – that’s her. She’s talking on the phone; actually she’s trying to find someone while the caller waits on the line. This is pretty much what Ms. Jones does all day long. She answers the phone and takes messages for her boss, Mr. Marvin, who’s the president of… some company.

Sometimes, if the call is urgent or very important, she puts the caller through to her boss. Usually she just takes messages, though, since Mr. Marvin is a very, very busy man. So now listen to some of the things Ms. Jones has said today:

  • Around 9AM Mr. Marvin’s wife called. Ms. Jones said “Don’t worry, Mrs. Marvin, I will have your husband call you before lunch”.
  • Around 10AM Federal Express delivered a package for Tony, the marketing manager. Ms. Jones called Tony and said “Sure, Tony, next time I will have the FedEx guy deliver the package to you directly”
  • Around 10:30AM Ms. Jones called the office supplies store and she placed an order for twenty pens and fifteen pencils. She told the store clerk “Please have the delivery person call me once they get here”.

Hear those sentences again: Ms. Jones said “Don’t worry, Mrs. Marvin, I’ll have your husband call you before lunch”. Then, she said “Sure, Tony, next time I’ll have the FedEx guy deliver the package to you directly”. And finally she said to the store clerk “Please have the delivery person call me once they get here”. Notice that the structure for all of them is the same: she will have someone do something. Or, in the case of the office supplies store, she asked the store clerk to have someone do something.

Now, what does that mean? To have someone do something is to ask them to do that thing, and maybe make sure they remember to do it, or to take the necessary steps for that person to do that thing. In other words, to have someone do something is to arrange, to take the necessary steps for that person to do that thing. In the first example, where Ms. Jones said “I will have your husband call you before lunch, Mrs. Marvin”… What did Ms. Jones do? She probably told Mr Jones that he was supposed to call his wife before lunch. And then, one hour before lunch she probably reminded him to call his wife. Then, ten minutes before noon she noticed that he hadn’t called his wife yet, so she knocked on his door, opened it and asked him “Mr. Marvin, would you like me to call your wife and put her through to you? She needs to talk to you before lunch”. Mr. Marvin said “Not necessary, thanks”, and he called his wife immediately. So what did Ms. Jones do? She had her boss call his wife before lunch. How? She told him about it, then she reminded him twice so that he wouldn’t forget.

Notice that “have someone do something” is different from “make someone do something”. “Make someone do something” means “force that person to do something”. So, the following week the FedEx guy brought Tony another package. And what did Ms. Jones do? She had the FedEx guy deliver the package directly to Tony. How? She simply showed the FedEx guy to Tony’s office, and there he went to hand the package to Tony.

What else? Oh, the people from the office supplies store came by to deliver some supplies. They called Ms. Jones when they arrived. Why did they do that? Because their supervisor had them call Ms. Jones when they arrived. He told them, before they left the store: “When you get there, please call Ms. Jones. Here’s her phone number”. Their supervisor had his employees call Ms. Jones.

Here’s a summary of this structure in three different verb tenses.

  • I had (someone) (do something), for things in the past;
  • I will have (someone) (do something), for things in the future;
  • I always have (someone) (do something), for habitual tasks.

Notice that ‘do’ is always ‘do’ in all three examples. And ‘do’ is a generic example, of course… it could be almost any verb. So from now on try to notice this whenever you’re watching a movie or a TV show. It won’t be long before you hear it! Talk to you next time.

 

Key expressions

  •  I had (someone) (do something)
  • I will have (someone) (do something)
  • I always have (someone) (do something)

 

Glossary

put someone through to (a person) = passar a ligação de alguém para (uma pessoa)

Federal Express = serviço de entregas expressas

the FedEx guy = o cara do Federal Express que veio entregar a encomenda

She showed the guy to Tony’s office = ela levou o cara, ou mostrou o caminho a ele, até o escritório do Tony

Ana
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Krish 06/08/2015

Será que existe diferença entre “Deliver sth FOR sb” e “Deliver sth TO sb”.

Fiquei um pouco confuso quando vi as frases:

Around 10AM Federal Express DELIVERED a package FOR Tony, the marketing manager.

E

Sure, Tony, next time I will have the FedEx DELIVER a package TO you directly.

Desde já, obrigado.

    Ana 07/08/2015

    Krish

    Se fosse
    “Federal Express delivered a package TO Tony”
    eu entenderia que eles entregaram o pacote diretamente ao Tony (que é o que entendo do segundo exemplo – deliver a package TO you – entregar a você diretamente.

    Em
    “Federal Express delivered a package FOR Tony”
    eu entendo que o package é para o Tony, mas foi entregue a outra pessoa pois o Tony não estava disponível para recebê-lo na hora, por qualquer motivo.

    Com relação a essa situação, poderia ser dito “This is a package for Tony. Where is he?”
    E “FedEx delivered the package to me (I was there when they knocked on the door) but it is for Tony”

    Esclareceu?

      Krish 07/08/2015

      Obrigado pelo esclarecimento.
      Deu para entender muito bem.

      Continue com os teus maravilhosos podcasts, pois têm não só ajudado a mim, mas também a muitos outros.

Everlon 07/08/2012

I will have my wife to learn English a little more. In principle I thought this structure a bit weird, but I believe that for now I am wont.
Thank you very much for that.
Have a nice day

Edilza Medeiros 31/07/2012

I will have my husband for his bring me something of the street because I’m very hungry and very busy studying my podcasts, therefore, don’t give for me to go on the street now.. hahhaha

    Ana 04/08/2012

    Hi edilza,

    You have your husband bring you some food from the street when you’re not able to go out, right?

dbarboni 26/07/2012

I will have Fabiana bring some water, because I’m thrist.
I always have Carlos leave your dog with her mother when we travel.
I had Mila call to her mother because she woke up very sick.

Eric Lima 26/07/2012

Tank you and keep going.

beto 26/07/2012

thanks for help us a lot

I will have my wife learn english
She wants to learn with you,how is that possible?

    Ana 26/07/2012

    Hi beto,
    Diga para ela clicar na barra lateral em “Clique aqui para conhecer o Curso Básico” ;)

Wallace Rodrigo 25/07/2012

My examples:
I had my mother take care of my daughter and my niece carefully.
I sometimes have my co-worker do an assignment for me, because I’m too busy.
My boss doesn’t have me do any job, because she trusts me a lot.

Thanks for your podcast. I’ve studied this issue recently on livemocha and I thought it very interesting.

dbarboni 25/07/2012

Hi Teacher, great podcast as always. Some examples about the topic…
I had my sister bring some meat for the lunch today, but she forget it.
I will have my boss call to you when he arrive.
I always have my friends arrive early at the work, but always they arrive late.

Thank you very much, Ana Luiza!

    Ana 04/08/2012

    Hi Debora,
    Great examples + uma observação: se vc “have your friends arrive early at work” isso quer dizer q vc dá um jeito de seus amigos chegarem cedo no trabalho (e aí eles não chegariam atrasados)

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