Let's learn about 'let's': How and When to Use in English
Quick and simple lesson to help you understand grammar better.
Test your English and learn even more with Gymglish.
TEST YOUR ENGLISH
Free trial and no commitment to buy
4,7 on App Store, Play Store and Trustpilot
More than 8 million learners worldwide
Let's learn about 'let's'
The expression Let's + [the infinitive without 'to'] expresses the imperative, but is generally used to make a suggestion:
Let's dance!
Let's all go outside and get ourselves a snack.
Let's is actually the contraction of Let us. In the first and third person, the imperative can actually be expressed with the construction LET+ the object + the infinitive without 'to':
Let us see.
Let us hope everything will work out.
Let them eat cake.
Note:
⢠Sometimes the meaning is very close to that of the ordinary verb to let (to allow):
⢠Sometimes the meaning is very close to that of the ordinary verb to let (to allow):
Let my people go. Allow or permit my people to go.
⢠Let is followed by an infinitive without 'to', but allow (and permit) are followed by an infinitive with 'to':
Let her speak!
Allow her to speak!
⢠In the negative form:
Don't let it happen again! Don't allow it to happen again!
Exercise 1
'Hey Polly, I think we should do something special for Bruno's birthday. all go to the Crazy Horse.'
'I'm not sure that's a great idea Philip. I'll think about it, I'll you know sometime next week.'
'I'm not sure that's a great idea Philip. I'll think about it, I'll you know sometime next week.'
'Hey Polly, I think we should do something special for Bruno's birthday. Let's 1 all go to the Crazy Horse.'
'I'm not sure that's a great idea Philip. I'll think about it, I'll let 2 you know sometime next week.'
'I'm not sure that's a great idea Philip. I'll think about it, I'll let 2 you know sometime next week.'
1 Let's: 'Let's all go to the Crazy Horse' is the best choice. 'Let's' is the contraction of 'let us' and expresses an imperative statement.
1 We: 'We all go to the Crazy Horse' is grammatically correct, but it is also something Tarzan would say. This choice doesn't make sense here.
1 Let: 'Let' requires a plural subject to follow it in order to express an imperative.
2 let: 'Let' is the best choice here 'I'll let you know' requires this form of the verb to let.
2 let's: In this sentence, it doesn't make sense to use the contraction 'let's' because it doesn't fit the idiom.
2 let us: 'I'll let us you know' is grammatically incorrect for many, many reasons. But mainly because 'us' and 'you' cannot both be used here.
Exercise 2
'I think everyone will find these new perfumes to be very interesting, SeĂąor Bruno'
' hope so, Horatio. We can't Kalvin Krime dominate the perfume market like they have for the past few years.'
' hope so, Horatio. We can't Kalvin Krime dominate the perfume market like they have for the past few years.'
'I think everyone will find these new perfumes to be very interesting, SeĂąor Bruno'
'Let's 1 hope so, Horatio. We can't let 2 Kalvin Krime dominate the perfume market like they have for the past few years.'
'Let's 1 hope so, Horatio. We can't let 2 Kalvin Krime dominate the perfume market like they have for the past few years.'
1 Let's: 'Let's hope so' is the correct expression.
1 Let: We must use the contraction 'let's' in this construction, otherwise there in no subject to accompany the verb in the phrase.
2 let: 'Let' is the best choice here. In this sense, the verb is equivalent to 'allow'.
2 let's: In this case, we would not use the contraction 'let's' because we are trying to express the sense of permission or allowance here.
Exercise 3
' grab a cup of coffee before the meeting starts. only have about five minutes, so hurry up.'
'Let's 1 grab a cup of coffee before the meeting starts. We 2 only have about five minutes, so hurry up.'
1 Let's: 'Let's' is the best choice here because it expresses an imperative statement.
1 Let: We must use 'let's' here because it is contraction of 'let us', while 'let' by itself does not make sense.
2 We: 'We' is the best choice, because we are not trying to make an imperative statement here.
2 Let's: We cannot use 'let's' here because this construction requires only a subject, and not the imperative statement 'let's'.
Exercise 4
Polly: Mr. Cheeter, don't me catch you reading those magazines in the lounge again.
Philip: I'm sorry Polly. talk about it over a drink at my place.
Philip: I'm sorry Polly. talk about it over a drink at my place.
Polly: Mr. Cheeter, don't let 1 me catch you reading those magazines in the lounge again.
Philip: I'm sorry Polly. Let's 2 talk about it over a drink at my place.
Philip: I'm sorry Polly. Let's 2 talk about it over a drink at my place.
1 let: 'Let' is the best choice here because we are expressing an imperative statement which does not require the contracted form 'let's'.
1 let's: Although this is an imperative statement, we cannot use the contracted form 'let's' because the sentence already has a subject (me).
2 Let's: 'Let's' is the best choice here because it correctly expresses the imperative statement.
2 Let: We must use the contraction 'let's' in this case because we need a subject (let us).
Exercise 5
Sophie: We would be terrible parents if we our son take drugs.
Bob: I donât think itâs such a big deal. give him the chance to learn for himself.
Sophie: already give him plenty of freedom. Remember that laboratory we built for him?
Bob: Yeah, that was pretty crazy. He did make some pretty good acid, though.
Sophie: What?
Bob: Nothing.
Bob: I donât think itâs such a big deal. give him the chance to learn for himself.
Sophie: already give him plenty of freedom. Remember that laboratory we built for him?
Bob: Yeah, that was pretty crazy. He did make some pretty good acid, though.
Sophie: What?
Bob: Nothing.
Sophie: We would be terrible parents if we let 1 our son take drugs.
Bob: I donât think itâs such a big deal. let's 2 give him the chance to learn for himself.
Sophie: We 3 already give him plenty of freedom. Remember that laboratory we built for him?
Bob: Yeah, that was pretty crazy. He did make some pretty good acid, though.
Sophie: What?
Bob: Nothing.
Bob: I donât think itâs such a big deal. let's 2 give him the chance to learn for himself.
Sophie: We 3 already give him plenty of freedom. Remember that laboratory we built for him?
Bob: Yeah, that was pretty crazy. He did make some pretty good acid, though.
Sophie: What?
Bob: Nothing.
1 let: 'To let someone (take drugs)' has the same meaning as 'To allow someone (to take drugs)' or 'To permit someone (to take drugs)'. Another example: 'You shouldn't let your pet cat tell you what do'.
1 let's: We use 'let's' to make a suggestion for a shared action. For example: 'OK kids, let's learn about sex!'. Sophie is not making a suggestion in this sentence.
1 let him: We cannot include the object pronoun 'him' in this sentence, because the sentence already contains the object 'our son'. However, if 'our son' had been mentioned previously, then we could say 'âŚif we let him take drugs'.
2 let's: We use 'let's' to make a suggestion about a course of action. Bob is suggesting that Bob and Sophie give their son the chance to make choices independently and learn from their consequences. Another example: 'Let's treat our children equally in every way'.
2 let: If we want to use 'let' to make a suggestion (or give an instruction), it must be followed immediately by an object. For example, we might say 'Let Sheila speak!'. This would be an instruction to allow Sheila to talk (perhaps by stopping talking and listening to her). In our dialogue, Bob might instruct Sophie to 'Let him have the chance to learn for himself'.
3 We: This sentence makes most sense as a simple statement. Sophie is saying that it is already the case that she and Bob grant their son significant freedom.
3 Let's: 'Let's' cannot be used with the adverb 'already'. 'Already' refers to something that happened in the past, and 'let's' is used to make a suggestion about the future. For example: 'Let's take all our clothes off and roll in the mud'.
3 Let: If we want to use 'let' to make a suggestion (or give an instruction), it must be followed immediately by an object. For example, we might say 'Let me come in!'. In any case, Sophie is not making a suggestion here, because she uses the adverb 'already' which refers to the past.
Still facing difficulties with 'Let's learn about 'let's''? Improve your English with Gymglish's English lessons - try our online English course for free now and receive a free level assessment!
What our users say:
Find out about other grammar rules. Improve your English further and test Gymglish, online English lessons.
Tips for learning 'Let's learn about 'let's''? Share them with us!
