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TOEIC Link Part 5 — have, make, let, get: Choosing the Right Causative and the Verb Form It Forces

Causative verbs are a favorite Part 5 trap because each one dictates a different verb form after its object — bare infinitive, to-infinitive, or past participle — and the item hinges on that form, not the meaning. This guide fixes have/make/let with the bare infinitive, get with the to-infinitive, and the have/get + past participle service pattern, then works the distractor logic on office examples.

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The department head had the assistant ____ the revised figures before the board meeting. The options offer to compile, compiling, compile, and compiled, and only one is grammatical. The answer is compile — a bare infinitive — because have used as a causative verb forces exactly that form after its object. Part 5 loves this family because each causative verb assigns a different form to the verb that follows, and the item is decided by the form, not by what the sentence means. Sort the causatives by the form they demand and this whole cluster becomes mechanical.

The rule that actually works: the causative decides the following form

A causative verb says that the subject causes someone else to do something. English has four common ones, and they split into three grammatical patterns:

  • have / make / let + object + bare infinitive — no to. The manager **had** the intern **file** the reports. / The policy **makes** every visitor **sign** in. / The supervisor **let** the team **leave** early.
  • get + object + to-infinitive — get is the odd one out. The manager **got** the intern **to file** the reports.
  • have / get + object + past participle — the service pattern, where someone else performs the action. We **had** the report **translated**. / She **got** the contract **reviewed** by legal.

So the practical test is: identify the causative verb first, then read off the form it forces. have/make/let → bare infinitive when the object does the action; get → to-infinitive; have/get + past participle when the action is done to something. Reading the grammar the verb demands rather than trusting the sentence's meaning is the same discipline that governs the transitive-versus-intransitive choice in raise and rise.

Trap 1: get takes to, the others do not

The single most tested point is that get breaks the pattern. Learners internalize "causative = bare infinitive" from have/make/let and then apply it to get, which is wrong:

  • The director ____ the vendor to expedite the shipment. → got (get + object + to-infinitive)
  • The director ____ the vendor expedite the shipment. → had or made (bare infinitive, no to)

The tell: if the form after the object is a to-infinitive, the causative must be get; if it is a bare infinitive, the causative is have, make, or let. TOEIC will offer both a to-form and a bare form to see whether you match the verb to the form. Pairing the fixed structure the head verb requires, rather than guessing, is the same logic that resolves the collocation choice in comply, adhere, and conform.

Trap 2: the service pattern — have/get + past participle

The second trap flips who performs the action. When the subject arranges for something to be done to an object by an outside party, have and get take a past participle, not an infinitive:

  • The firm ____ its offices repainted over the weekend. → the offices were painted by someone else → had (have + object + repainted)
  • We need to ____ the software updated before the audit. → get (get + object + updated)

The tell: if the object is a thing that receives the action and someone unnamed does the work, the form is the past participle — had the report printed, got the car serviced, had the documents notarized. Compare had the assistant print the report (the assistant does it → bare infinitive) with had the report printed (someone does it to the report → past participle). Distinguishing who acts on what is the same doer-versus-receiver reading that separates lie and lay.

Trap 3: make in the passive suddenly takes to

A subtle trap exploits make. In the active voice, make takes a bare infinitive — The policy makes employees wear badges. But in the passive, make recovers the to:

  • Employees are ____ to wear badges at all times. → passive of make → made (be made to wear)
  • The policy ____ employees wear badges. → active → makes (bare infinitive)

The tell: be made to do in the passive, make someone do in the active. let has no direct passive (English substitutes be allowed to), and have/get passives are rare in Part 5, so this trap is almost always make. Watching how a structure shifts between active and passive is the same register-sensitivity that untangles former and latter reference.

The business collocations that lock the choice

Part 5 pulls causatives from a stable set of workplace frames:

  • have + person + bare infinitive — have the team submit the forms, have the courier deliver the package.
  • make + person + bare infinitive — make all staff complete the training, make the vendor honor the warranty.
  • let + person + bare infinitive — let the client review the draft, let the intern shadow the meeting.
  • get + person + to-infinitive — get the supplier to lower the price, get IT to reset the account.
  • have / get + thing + past participle — have the contract signed, get the equipment inspected, have the report proofread.

One deserves a flag. let means permit and never appears in the past-participle service pattern — you cannot "let something done." If a service reading is intended, the verb is have or get, never let. Matching the causative to both the meaning and the form is the "the structure decides" behavior that carries the whole cluster.

Worked examples

  1. The account manager ____ her assistant schedule the follow-up calls. → the assistant does it, bare infinitive; had (or made).

  2. We finally ____ the landlord to fix the heating. → to-infinitive after the causative; got (get + to).

  3. The company ____ its logo redesigned by an outside agency. → the logo receives the action; had (have + past participle).

  4. New hires are ____ to attend a full-day orientation. → passive of make; made (be made to).

  5. The supervisor ____ the team take a longer lunch after the launch. → permission, bare infinitive; let.

The one-line summary

have / make / let + bare infinitive; get + to-infinitive; have / get + past participle for the service pattern; be made to in the passive. Identify the causative first, then read off the form it forces — and never let the sentence's meaning override the grammar the head verb demands. That single discipline — the verb dictates the following form — is what turns Part 5 causative items from a memory test into a lookup, the same mechanical control that steadies you across the whole verb-form family, from the transitive split in lie and lay to every structured item TOEIC drops into Part 5.