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The boss gets the work done.
The boss gets the work to be done.

Are both sentences correct? And why?

My English worksheet stated that the second sentence is incorrect because the verb get can't be used with to be pp, it should just be pp.

Another example was :

She got her foot caught in the wire.
She got her foot to be caught in the wire.

In this case, to be caught changes the meaning of the sentence, so it's incorrect.

However, I still don't understand the first example. Can you provide a valid source that used get A to be pp? I know get A to be pp sounds awkward, but being grammatically incorrect and being awkward are two different matters.

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  • 1
    Finding a special cases to use "got her foot to be caught" would take time. Not impossible, just unlikely.
    – Yosef Baskin
    Commented Jun 7 at 2:54
  • 2
    Your worksheet is correct. Get something done is idiomatic ('finish the task' or 'cause someone else to do it'). Get something to be done is not idiomatic English.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Jun 7 at 7:24
  • The first line implies that the boss gets it done themselves, the second usually means that they arrange for it to be done, usually by getting someone else to do it.
    – Barmar
    Commented Jun 7 at 15:35

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To get something done is idiomatic:

  • She got [or 'had'] her hair done.
  • I haven't got the window done [= fixed] yet.
  • We got the lawn done [= mown] this week.

But it doesn't necessarily mean 'have something done by someone [else]':

  • He hasn't got his homework done yet [= He hasn't finished his homework yet.]

Note that

  • I'll get it done by the weekend.

could mean either

  • I'll do it by the weekend.

or

  • I'll get someone to do it by the weekend.

With other verbs than do, care has again to be taken to distinguish the causative sense of the get-passive:

  • He got the car fixed at the garage.

from the eventive:

  • She got her foot caught in the wire.

Sometimes, context disambiguates, but ambiguities can arise.

...............

Get something to be V-ed is unusual, and doesn't work as a replacement for 'get something V-ed':

  • *She got [or 'had'] her hair to be done.
  • *She got her foot to be caught in the wire.

Examples where it is possible is

  • He got to be seen as a genius. [informal; eventive or causative]

  • He got the infirm to be recognised as a special case. [causative]

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