get/have + done

[nschneid]

get done (V-ing.../with...)

Intransitive. This is a verbal idiom meaning 'finish'.

xcomp(get, done/ADJ) per this comment

How should the complement attach?

get/have something done (hair, tests, etc.)

• EWT query
• also in EWT: We've had about 5 repairs done on 3 different laptops.
• GUM query

Are we deciding ADJ vs. VERB for "done" in terms of the completion sense versus the activity sense? "Gets the Job Done" should be ADJ, but "We need to have a job done (by the workers)" should be VERB?

[rueter]

Hi, @nschneid, will "getting the job finished/completed" have a different reading? And what about wanting to "Have the job finished/completed (by someone)". So, the three and their analogical counterparts might share this kind of split in syntactic structures, right?

[nschneid]

Let's consider a clearer adjective/verb contrast: "clean" vs. "cleaned". Unfortunately I think there is a lot of aspectual wiggle room with "have" and "get"—they can focus on the result or the action as a whole.

• We need to get the floor cleaned/clean.
• We need to have the floor cleaned/?clean.
  • We need to have the floor clean by 8:00. (We need to make sure the floor is clean by 8:00.)
  • We need to have the floor cleaned by 8:00. (We need to make sure the cleaning is done by 8:00.)
• the floor is clean
• ?the floor is cleaned (as a stative description)

This suggests to me that "have something X" prefers X to be a VERB, but there may be contexts where an ADJ is also OK. "Done" collapses the verb and adjective forms, so it's hard to tell. "Do" collocates with some of the nouns that can be used in the "get/have N done" frame (do someone's hair, do a job...) so it's hard to rule out the verb interpretation.

We may just have to say it's often ambiguous: e.g.

• I recently got a tattoo done at Aztec and I could not be happier. - clearly VERB, not emphasizing 'over with' aspect
• I will have the EPM test done before treating. - probably VERB assuming the testing as a whole will determine the course of treatment, but could be read as 'the test needs to be complete by the time treatment starts', in which case ADJ

[nschneid]

In short: for "get done" I guess we should say VERB for the 'cause to do' sense and ADJ for the 'cause to be over with' sense.