Learn how to use the Spanish verbs hacer/mandar in arranged, ordered actions
In some contexts in Spanish, to express "to have something done" we can use the verbs hacer or mandar followed by an infinitive. The person who actually does the action described in the infinitive is not mentioned and this information is unimportant/irrelevant when using this construction.
hacer/mandar + infinitive = to get/have something done
Using this construction implies that the person has "arranged" for something to be done, "ordered" these actions, or "paid" for these actions to make them happen.
For example:
Hicieron pintar de nuevo su piso, porque no les gustaba cómo había quedado.They had their flat painted again, because they didn't like how it had turned out.
Sometimes and in specific contexts, for example, when narrating historic events, the idea of "having something done" can also be expressed directly, which could lead us to believe that the action is taken directly by the explicit subject, but that is not the case. This happens both in Spanish and English, for example:
Los Reyes Católicos expulsaron a los judíos de todo el territorio español.
The Catholic Kings expelled the Jews from the whole Spanish territory.
If we want to be more precise and convey that they didn't actually take the action themselves but instead arranged for it to happen, we would say:
Often some of these expressions expressed in English with "having something done" are also expressed in Spanish with an impersonal sentence using the 3rd person plural. See How to say to have something done with a sentence using the verb in the 3rd person plural.
See also How to say to have something done in Spanish - mainly beauty and body contexts
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