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Cause-to-do structure

Structure
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A grammatical construction where one agent is expressed as causing an act in another

Detailed Definition
A syntactic form where an actor induces another to act, as in "I made him sing." In poetry, cause-to-do structures intensify dramatic interactions, showing how actions ripple between agents, and can heighten emotional or thematic tension.
Example
Example in poetry:
“She had him wash the dishes” in poetic storytelling; “He let them open the gate” in narrative verse; “We got them to dance” in celebratory poem; “They made him tell the tale” in ballad form
Additional Notes
Specific causative syntactic structure highlighting one actor inducing action; useful for dramatizing dynamics in a poem.
Also Known As
Cause-effect syntax Induced action structure Causative phrasing Production form Factitive construction
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