Where is causitive: Shah Jehan got Taj Mahal built in memory

[ASHLEY]

Hello everyone

I just read two sentences in a novel which left me thinking...

1- Shah Jehan built Taj Mahal in memory of his wife.
2- You better cut your hair.

Are they correct? I think they should read as:

1-Shah Jehan got Taj Mahal built in memory of his wife.
2- You better get your hair cut.

What do you think, teachers?

Ashley

ps. is it Taj Mahal or the Taj Mahal

[Yankee]

Hi Ashley

Regarding sentence 1:

I would say "the Taj Mahal".

"Shah Jehan built the Taj Mahal in memory of his wife." ---> I would consider this sentence to be OK, even though Shah Jehan didn't build the Taj Mahal himself. People who read this sentence would understand this. To be very grammatically precise, then I would say:
"Shah Jehan had the Taj Mahal built in memory of his wife."

Using the word "got" instead of "had" would be extremely informal. I would not use "got" in this sentence.

Regarding sentence 2:

"You better" is also informal spoken English (and is a grammar mistake). The correct form is "You'd better" ("You had better").

"You'd better cut your hair" technically means that you should cut your hair yourself.

"You'd better get your hair cut." means that somebody else should cut your hair.
"You'd better have your hair cut.", means the same thing, but this would be more formal.

Amy
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