Stefano
to get something done - another meaning?? Hi, I'd like to have some help regarding a sentence I've heard in a TV series. This is the sentence: "Nobody questions my ability to get the job done" Well, even though I got the meaning of this (everybody is aware of his skills in doing his job), I can't actually figure out the structure of this. If I look up in the internet about "to get something done", as in this case, it only shows me the passive form "have/get something done" such as "I've had my hair cut". I think this isn't the same meaning as in the sentence I wrote above, because in the first one the man who's speaking is referring to his ability to carry out his job, whereas in the sentences found in the internet this structure is used to say that a person has something done by another person (it's a passive form). So, are there two different meanings for the "get something done" structure? I hope someone can help me, thanks in advance
19 sie 2015 14:48
Odpowiedzi · 9
1
The construction 'to get + object + past participle' has two uses: 1. The construction which is taught in all the grammar books is the one you refer to as a passive. In fact, this is a causative rather than a passive construction. We use it when you arrange for another person or organisation to do something for you. It's commonly used with reference to professional services, for example 'It was too much work to do on my own, so I got the job done by a local building company.' 2. There is also another more idiomatic use which is rarely taught, but is probably just as common among native speakers in informal situations. We use it to refer to the successful completion of a task which might be lengthy or difficult, or perhaps just dull and unappealing. The implication is that this task presents some kind of challenge. Here are some examples: I'll phone you as soon as I've got my essay finished. I like to get all the housework done before I go to out in the evening. In both of those cases, it is the speakers themselves who do these jobs. As you can see, this use is completely unconnected to the causative use above.
21 sierpnia 2015
1
Although "nobody questions my ability to get the job done" is in a form that makes it sound like the passive voice, there is nothing passive about it. "Get the job done" does mean literally what it seems to mean, i.e. to finish or to complete a task, but it is in fact an idiom. It means not only that I have the skills/ability to do the job, but that that I have the will to see it to completion.
19 sierpnia 2015
1
This is complicated to explain. To get something done is a description of what the passive voice is used for i.e. to show that you got something done by someone else rather than a description of the form it takes which is generally - I had my hair cut etc. It can be used for the passive itself using by e.g. I got the job done by the company down the road. In the sentence you mentioned, it essentially means my ability got the job done but we don't put it that way.
19 sierpnia 2015
briefly he wants to say to make the job be done
19 sierpnia 2015
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