I have my hands done too.

[vil]

Dear teachers,

This morning I read two very simple sentences in a Grammar book, namely:

“I must also have my hands done.”
“I must have my hands done too.”

The topic was replacing “also” by more colloquial “too”.

However I wandered from the subject. My attention was focused on the literal sense of the both. At first I was puzzled over the meaning in my natural language but subsequently I remember a few examples of sentences with similar configuration.

have something done

I must have my hair washed, moisturized and blow-dried properly.
Every time I have my hair pulled back in a ponytail style.

So I think I might to extend the boundaries of the original sentence.

“I let my nails grow so I must have my hands done.”

Would you tell your thoughts on the matter?

From the second hand I know that only a scarcely perceptible difference in the word’s configuration might work a fundamental change of the meaning.

For example I remember the following words from the Bible:

“Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul.”

How odd!!!

Regards.

V.

[Soup]

[1] I must have my hands done.
=> have someone do my hands for me, whatever 'do' means I don't know. Could mean, massage, could mean plastic surgery, but whatever it means it's definitely causitive in structure.


[2]“Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul.”
=> "my hands" is the subject in this case. The person's hands have committed some act. This meaning is different from [1].

[susiedqq]

When someone gets a manicure, they use the phrase, "getting my hands done."

[Soup]

They do? Must be a USA thing. Get my nails done, right?

[susiedqq]

Yes - we say

I must get my hair done before I go to the dance.

I must get my feet and nails done before I go out.

[vil]

Dear Soup and susiedqq,

Thank you very much for your explanatory notes. They gave me a leg up. This was some help.

I hope you can well understand why have I move that question be put to debate. The original sentence was very inconclusive and obscure for me.

Thank you again for your backing.

Regards.

V.