From Twitter:
A: Jan won’t brush.
B: __ her do it before TV. (1.)
A: She won’t.
B: And the new tooth paste?
A: She hates it, and she’s always on her phone.
B: Get her a new app; that’ll __ her to do it! (2.)
A: I tried.
B: __ her do it by saying no phone. (3.)
Choices:
a. make
b. get
c. have
The answers are:
1. have
2. get
3. make
EXPLANATION
Sometimes we need someone to do something. When we ask and that person does it, we say we have or had that person do it for us:
Example 1
Mary: Did you get your hair cut? (We don’t usually cut our own hair.)
Nancy: Yeah. I had Sweeney do it–at Super Kuts.
Mary: Sweeney did a good job. Maybe I should have my hair done there.
Example 2
Mom had the repairman fix the washing machine on Saturday.
In the above two examples we can use ‘have’ or ‘get’ interchangeably–but sometimes we have to persuade (convince) someone to do something. In this case we use “get” exclusively:
Example 3
I couldn’t get myself to quit smoking–even after I learned that there is nuclear radiation in cigarettes. Well–it was winter and very cold, so I started keeping my cigarettes in the garage! Eventually, I grew tired of putting on my shoes and coat just to have a smoke–and I got sick of the cold, outside; so I began smoking less and less, and finally I just quit! That’s how I got myself to do it!
Example 4
Little John John wouldn’t clean up his toys after playing, so his father, Jack, promised to read to John John a story if John John would clean up. John John loved stories, so he started to put away his toys after playing, and Jack kept his promise of reading to him. That is how Jack got Jon Jon to always clean up his toys.
Finally, we sometimes have to force people to do something; in this case we use the word make:
Example 5
The police made the bank robber give up by shooting the money bag out of his hand. The thief was so frightened that he dropped his gun, raised his hands and surrendered.
In the Twitter quiz from today, parents are discussing their daughter, Jan–who will not brush her teeth. One parent suggests, that the other parent have Jan do it before watching TV. This means he is saying ask or tell her expecting her to do it. There is no persuasion or force.
Then the other parent says Jan will not do it. So, persuasion is suggested: Get Jan to cooperate by promising she can have a new phone app. That won”t work. The other parent tried that.
Finally, force is suggested: Make Jan brush her teeth by saying ‘no TV if you don’t brush your teeth it.’
Usually ‘make’ is used in more forceful situations, perhaps violent ones, but I did not want to say the parents would hit Jan; violence is never a good motivator for raising healthy children.
