Other Passive Structures – Needs doing/get something done

Other Passive Structures – Needs doing

To say that something is necessary, we can use two structures:

Need + Infinitive         The roof needs to be fixed.

Need + gerund           The roof needs fixing.

The second structure is more common and less formal. When we use these structures, we are suggesting that we want another person to do something for us.

Other Passive Structures - Get/have something done

When we want another person to do something for us, we can also use the structure:

Get/have something done                 I need to get/have roof fixed.

I need to get my hair cut.

We can also use get/have something done to refer to something negative or unwanted:

For example: Jim had his car stolen last night. (= Jim's car was stolen)

We can use get something done to refer to completing an activity, especially if a time expression is used.

For example: We'll get the work done as soon as possible.

Click on the following links to learn more about the Passive

Introduction

How to Use the Passive

Example Passive Structures

Other Passive Structures – Reporting Opinions