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I need to know if "had" is static or dynamic in the following clause.

I had the staff do a thorough search.

I know that if the verb have is marking possession or obligation, some speakers treat it as a static and as an auxiliary in an interrogative clause construction: Had I the staff do a thorough search?

But when "have" is describing an event, it is dynamic and lexical.

So I'm not quite sure if the clause is about an event that happened so the "have" would be dynamic or is the "have" describing possession over the staff that he or she has the staff.

Sorry if this sounds hard to understand but I have a upcoming test and I'm in a hurry.

Thanks for all the help!

noorav
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  • Does this answer your question, noorav? Causative construction ("I had the painter paint my house" / "I had my house painted"). I suppose if you have something done, there is a transformation, a perfective aspect, so stasis is ruled out. I'm not sure I'd use 'dynamic' for 'have' here though. – Edwin Ashworth Apr 26 '23 at 14:24
  • research does not take a here. Do thorough research [of or on an issue]. – Lambie Apr 26 '23 at 14:27
  • Did I have the staff do thorough research? – Lambie Apr 26 '23 at 15:10
  • I can't say where you came to "know" those "facts" about have, but they're quite incorrect. Have is almost always an auxiliary verb, and then it can be inverted. But it also occurs as a constituent of many constructions: have your hair cut, have a party, have a baby, have your tires rotated, have your tires slashed, have supper, etc, and there it is just another ordinary verb that doesn't invert, doesn't contract, and does require do-support. Never mind whether it's active or stative; the constructions can be either. – John Lawler Apr 26 '23 at 15:59
  • Causative "have" can only be dynamic. Btw, causative "have" does not allow passivisation. – BillJ Apr 27 '23 at 06:47

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