Learn English – Changing the word order changes the meaning

grammarmeaningword-order

I read these sentences recently in a book. What is the difference between these two sentences?

I had my car cleaned.

and

I had cleaned my car.

The book gave two different meanings.

How would you describe the difference between these two sentences?

Best Answer

The first sentence, "had my car cleaned," implies that someone else did it. "I had my car cleaned [by someone]." Disregarding tenses, you could say "my car was cleaned." The "had [something done]" setup typically implies that you instructed someone to do it.

The second sentence means that you cleaned it. Disregarding tenses again, you could say "I cleaned my car."

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