My Life in Ruins: Get / Have Something Done (Passive Voice with Causative Verbs)

I really liked this comedy. Greece is simply fabulous and the views are fascinating. The story is very relaxing and funny too. I used many scenes for different activities. This is the first one of them. I used it to practice causative verbs GET and HAVE in passive constructions. It is an unconventional manner to practice such a barren, unattractive grammar point.

I. Before viewing the segment, talk to a partner about the following questions.


1. Have you ever stayed at a very bad hotel? Tell you partner about it and how you managed to stay there.



2. Do you complain when there is a problem in your hotel room? What do you do if they do not resolve the problem for you?


3. Do you prefer to stay at a bad hotel that is very well located in the city or at a sophisticated hotel that is not so well located? Explain it.


II. Watch the movie segment and check the problems that you could identify in the Greek hotel.

1. ( ) The elevator

2. ( ) The air conditioning system

3. ( ) The mini bar

4. ( ) The shower

5. ( ) The toilet

6. ( ) The fan

7. ( ) The bed

8. ( ) The TV

9. ( ) The telephone

10. ( ) The closet



III. Fill in the blanks with the passive form of the verbs in parentheses.


1. The elevator needs repairing. The hotel needs to _____________ (get / fix).

2. The shower doesn't work properly. The managers will ___________ (have/repair).

3. The toilet broke. Plumbers will ________________ (get/replace).

4. The TV stopped working. The hotel will __________(have/send) to the electrician.

5. The telephone is out of order. They will _______________ (get / reconnect) as soon as possible.



IV. Now write two sentences about the other problems you identified, using passive construction with get and have. Follow the patterns in exercise III.



V. Class discussion:

What would you do if you were in such a breathtaking place like Greece, but in that horrible hotel? Would you complain, demand to change rooms or hotels? Justify it.


Answer Key:

II.

1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10

III.

1. get it fixed
2. have it repaired
3. get it replaced
4. have it sent
5. get it reconnected


MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - MY LIFE IN RUINS

WORKSHEET


 A peer of mine said that he had used a slides presentation with links to my passive voice activities. I was sent the link and came across this really cool and thorough class on passive voice. I'm glad Simon Friend used my blog for his video activities. His slides are effective, fun and constructive. Thanks Simon Friend for these really cool slides. Thanks for linking my site to it.