få + Past Participle

Have Something Done (Få + Participle)

Level 3

The Danish construction få + participium is used to describe actions that are arranged for (causative), managed with effort (active), or experienced (passive).

How It Works

The få + participium construction expresses several kinds of completed or achieved action. It covers three main scenarios:

  • Causative (Benefactive): When you arrange for someone else to do something for you.
    Jeg fik bilen repareret (I had the car repaired).
  • Active/Modal (Manage to): When you emphasize the completion of a task or state, often implying effort. This can be used with both transitive and intransitive verbs.
    Jeg fik endelig skrevet brevet (I finally managed to write the letter) or Jeg fik sovet længe (I managed to sleep late).
  • Recipient-Passive: When something happens to you or your property.
    Han fik stjålet sin cykel (He had his bike stolen) vs. Jeg fik foræret en bog (I was given a book as a gift).

Word Order: With nouns, the object can come before or after the participle (Jeg fik ordnet bilen). A light pronoun commonly precedes the participle: Jeg fik det ordnet. Post-participle placement also occurs, especially in the active achievement reading, as in Jeg fik gjort det; do not treat it as universally wrong.

Important Distinction: Do not confuse this with få + at + infinitiv. Få lov til at expresses permission; the separate expression få at vide means to be told or learn something, whereas the participle version focuses on the result of an action.

No Object Agreement: Use the invariable verbal participle in this construction: Jeg fik repareret bilen, Jeg fik repareret huset, Jeg fik repareret bilerne. Number and gender do not turn repareret into reparerede here. Adjectival descriptions are a separate construction.

Examples (5)

  1. Jeg skal få klippet mit hår i morgen.

    I am going to have my hair cut tomorrow.

    Word by Word: I shall get cut my hair in tomorrow.

    This is the causative use. The subject isn't cutting their own hair; they are arranging for a barber to do it.

  2. Fik du læst bogen færdig?

    Did you manage to finish reading the book?

    Word by Word: Got you read book-the finished?

    This uses 'få' to emphasize the completion of the task (managing to finish).

  3. Han fik stjålet sin taske i toget.

    He had his bag stolen on the train.

    Word by Word: He got stolen his bag in train-the.

    This is the recipient-passive use, where something negative happens to the subject's property.

  4. Vi fik malet stuen i weekenden.

    We got the living room painted over the weekend.

    Word by Word: We got painted living room-the in weekend-the.

    This can mean either we did it ourselves and finished it, or we had someone else do it, depending on context.

  5. Jeg fik ikke gjort rent i går.

    I didn't get the cleaning done yesterday.

    Word by Word: I got not done clean in yesterday.

    A common way to express that a task was not completed.

Common Mistakes

  • Confusing 'få + participle' with 'få + at + infinitive'.

    Jeg fik at reparere bilen.
    Jeg fik repareret bilen.

    Use the participle (repareret) to show an action was completed or a service was done. Permission is normally expressed with få lov til at. Få at occurs in particular expressions such as få at vide; it is not a general replacement for få + participle.

  • Inflecting the verbal participle for a plural object.

    Vi fik reparerede bilerne.
    Vi fik repareret bilerne.

    This verbal få construction uses the invariable participle repareret, regardless of the number or gender of the object.

  • Saying you cut your hair when someone else did it.

    Different MeaningJeg klippede mit hår.
    Jeg fik klippet mit hår.

    'Jeg klippede mit hår' is correct, but it means you cut it yourself, with your own scissors. To say you had a professional do it, use 'få' with the participle: 'Jeg fik klippet mit hår'.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

få + Past ParticipleLevel 3Have Something Done (Få + Participle)

Learn This First

To use the 'få + object + participle' construction, you need to understand the basic meaning of the verb 'få' (to get), how to form the past participle of verbs, and how to correctly place an object in a sentence.

Words in This Pattern

få