let
verb /let/
/let/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they let | /let/ /let/ |
| he / she / it lets | /lets/ /lets/ |
| past simple let | /let/ /let/ |
| past participle let | /let/ /let/ |
| -ing form letting | /ˈletɪŋ/ /ˈletɪŋ/ |
- let’s[no passive] used for making suggestions or as a polite way of telling people what you want them to do
- ‘Shall we check it again?’ ‘Yes, let's.’
- let's do something Let's go to the beach.
- Right, let's begin.
- (formal) Let us review these points in more detail.
- Let's not tell her what we did.
- (British English) Don't let's tell her what we did.
- Now let's not be silly about this.
Extra ExamplesTopics Suggestions and advicea1- I don't think we'll make it, but let's try anyway.
- Come on, let's go.
- So let's get started.
- It's party time, so let's celebrate.
- Let's go back in time to when this all began.
- 'Shall we go over it again?' 'Yes, let's do that.'
- 'Shall we go over it again?' 'Let's.'
- So let's talk about what happens next.
- Let's assume that all the tickets are sold.
- Let's be honest, nobody expected this to happen.
- Now let's look again at your analysis.
- Let's not say things we might regret.
- Don't let's make excuses.
- Let us remember their sacrifices.
- Let us continue with the next point on the agenda.
- Let us pray.
- [no passive] let somebody/something do something used for offering help to somebody
- Let me help you with that.
- Here, let me do it.
- Let us get those boxes down for you.
- 'Please, let me,' she said, opening the door.
Extra Examples- Let me help you with your luggage.
- Just let me find out for you.
- Let me get your coat.
- Wait, let me get that for you.
- Let me ask if anything can be done to speed things up.
- Let us help you with your arrangements.
- Let our experts take the stress out of buying a home.
- 'Here, let me,' he said, taking the dirty plates.
- Let me—I can reach more easily.
- [no passive] let somebody/something do something used for making requests or giving instructions
- Let me have your report by Friday.
- Let me know (= tell me) how I can help.
- Please let us know your decision as soon as possible.
Extra Examples- Kindly let us know any special dietary requirements.
- Just let me read the document before you post it.
- Let me see it when it's done, please.
- If you could let Tina have the final numbers by next Tuesday, that would be great.
- Be sure to let them know in plenty of time.
- [no passive] to allow somebody to do something or something to happen without trying to stop it
- let somebody/something do something Let them splash around in the pool for a while.
- Don't let her upset you.
- Let your body relax.
- I'll let others decide whether the play was a success or not.
- Will you let me finish?
- let somebody/something He'd eat chocolate all day long if I let him.
Extra Examples- He's always willing to let others take the lead.
- She was content to let me do all the work.
- Let me do the talking.
- I let my mind go blank.
- How can you let other people take the blame for what you did?
- I'm not going to let some idiot spoil my enjoyment.
- I'm not about to let you bully me.
- We can't let them get away with this.
- I'll let you make up your own mind.
- Stop interrupting and let her speak.
- I'm just going to let the tape run.
- Sit back, relax, and let yourself be entertained.
- I stupidly let myself be persuaded.
- He let himself drift off into a daydream.
- I let the warm water run all over my body.
- He let things get into a bad state while she was away.
- I wanted to let the beauty of the image speak for itself.
- I'd like to say a few words, if you'll let me.
- I offered to wash up, but they wouldn't let me.
- She walked as fast as her sore knee would let her.
- The software also lets users create personalized data views.
- to give somebody permission to do something
- let somebody/something do something They won't let him leave the country.
- In some countries they let you drive at 15.
- They refused to let us cross the border.
- let somebody/something I wanted to go but my parents wouldn't let me.
Extra Examples- I'll come if my parents let me.
- I wanted to go by myself but she wouldn't let me.
- She wanted to work, but her husband wouldn't let her.
- At least let me try.
- The school won't let you do Physics unless you have at least a B in Maths.
- He agreed to let her move into the house temporarily.
- They even refused to let his wife see him in hospital.
- Don't let him come.
- They let me retake my exams.
- I'm not going to let anyone else use my phone.
- I'm happy to let him borrow the car if he pays for the insurance.
- They never let the children play outside.
- The police wouldn't let us leave.
- Her parents won't let her go out with boys.
- let somebody/something + adv./prep. to allow somebody/something to go somewhere
- to let somebody into the house
- This lets more water into the soil.
- I'll give you a key so that you can let yourself in.
- A decision was made to let in more refugees.
- Please let me past.
- The cat wants to be let out.
Extra Examples- She banged on the door shouting ‘Let me in!’
- Open a window, let some air in.
- Under 18s are not supposed to be let in.
- Why would you let a complete stranger into your house?
- They refused to let them across the border.
- Someone let the dog out.
- We opened the door to let out the smoke.
- She let the hamster out of its cage.
- They let us out of school early today.
- After he was let out of jail, he moved to another city.
- Only eight teams are let through to the next round.
- This might block programs that your other firewalls let through.
- [no passive] let somebody/something do something used to show that you are not afraid or worried about somebody doing something
- If he thinks he can cheat me, just let him try!
- [no passive] let somebody/something do something (literary) used to express a strong wish for something to happen
- Let her come home safely!
- [no passive] let somebody/something do something used to introduce what you are going to say or do
- Let me give you an example.
- Let me just finish this and then I'll come.
- [no passive] let somebody/something do something (specialist) used to say that you are supposing something to be true when you calculate something
- Let line AB be equal to line CD.
- let something (out) (to somebody) (especially British English) to allow somebody to use a house, room, etc. in return for regular payments
- I let the spare room.
- They decided to let out the smaller offices at low rents.
Wordfinder- accommodation
- deed
- home
- house
- lease
- let
- location
- mortgage
- squat
- tenant
Collocations Moving houseMoving house Renting- live in a rented/(especially North American English) rental property
- rent/share/move into a furnished house/(British English) flat/(especially North American English) apartment
- rent a studio/(British English) a studio flat/(especially North American English) a studio apartment/(British English) a bedsit
- find/get a housemate/(British English) a flatmate/(North American English) a roommate
- sign/break the lease/rental agreement/contract
- extend/renew/terminate the lease/(British English) tenancy
- afford/pay the rent/the bills/(North American English) the utilities
- (especially British English) fall behind with/ (especially North American English) fall behind on the rent
- pay/lose/return a damage deposit/(North American English) security deposit
- give/receive a month’s/two-weeks’ notice to leave/vacate the property
- have a flat/an apartment/a room (British English) to let/(especially North American English) for rent
- rent (out)/lease (out)/ (British English) let (out)/sublet a flat/an apartment/a house/a property
- collect/increase/raise the rent
- evict the existing tenants
- attract/find new/prospective tenants
- invest in rental property/(British English) property to let/(British English) the buy-to-let market
- buy/acquire/purchase a house/(a) property/(especially North American English) (a piece of) prime real estate
- call/contact/use (British English) an estate agent/(North American English) a Realtor™/(North American English) a real estate agent/broker
- make/ (British English) put in an offer on a house
- put down/save for (British English) a deposit on a house
- make/put/save for (especially North American English) a down payment on a house/home
- apply for/arrange/take out a mortgage/home loan
- (struggle to) pay the mortgage
- make/meet/keep up/cover the monthly mortgage payments/(British English also) repayments
- (British English) repossess/ (especially North American English) foreclose on somebody’s home/house
- put your house/property on the market/up for sale/up for auction
- increase/lower your price/the asking price
- have/hold/hand over the deed/(especially British English) deeds of/to the house, land, etc.
British/American rent / hire / letrent / hire / letVerbsTopics Houses and homesc1- You can hire something for a short period of time, (British English only) but rent something for a longer period:
- We can hire bikes for a day to explore the town.
- We don’t own our TV, we rent it.
- In North American English, rent is always used. It is sometimes now used in British English instead of hire, too.
- The owners of a thing can hire it out for a short period:
- (British English) Do you hire out bikes?
- We rent out rooms in our house to students.
- Outside a building you could see:
- (British English) To let
- (especially North American English) For rent.
- To hire can also mean to employ somebody, especially in North American English:
- We hired a new secretary.
- The amount of money that you pay to rent something is rent or rental (more formal). When you hire something you pay a hire charge (British English). On a sign outside a shop you might see:
- (British English) Bikes for hire.
making suggestions
offering help
making requests
allow
challenging
wishing
introducing something
in calculating
house/room
Word Originverb Old English lǣtan ‘leave behind, leave out’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch laten and German lassen, also to late.
Idioms Most idioms containing let are at the entries for the nouns and adjectives in the idioms, for example let alone is at alone.
let somebody/something be
- to stop trying to change the behaviour or state of somebody/something
- I know I'm being grumpy, but I'm really tired so just let me be.
let fall something
- to mention something in a conversation, by accident or as if by accident synonym drop
- She let fall a further heavy hint.
let somebody go
- to allow somebody to be free synonym free
- Will they let the hostages go?
- He's finally been let go.
- to make somebody have to leave their job
- They're having to let 100 employees go because of falling profits.
let somebody/something go | let go (of somebody/something)
- to stop holding somebody/something
- Don't let the rope go.
- Don't let go of the rope.
- Let go! You're hurting me!
- to give up an idea or an attitude, or control of something
- It's time to let the past go.
- It's time to let go of the past.
let something go
- to stop taking care of a house, garden, etc.
- I'm afraid I've let the garden go this year.
- Let the house go in order to spend time with the kids.
let somebody have it
- (informal) to attack somebody physically or with words
let it go (at that)
- to say or do no more about something
- I don't entirely agree, but I'll let it go at that.
- I thought she was hinting at something, but I let it go.
let me see/think | let's see
- used when you are thinking or trying to remember something
- Now let me see—where did he say he lived?
let's just say
- used when commenting on a situation to suggest that you could say something more or worse but prefer not to
- Let's just say he wasn't very happy about the decision (= he was very unhappy or angry about it).
let us say
- used when making a suggestion or giving an example
- I can let you have it for, well let's say £100.
let yourself go
- to behave in a relaxed way without worrying about what people think of your behaviour
- Come on, enjoy yourself, let yourself go!
- to stop being careful about how you look and dress, etc.
- He has let himself go since he lost his job.
to let
- (of a room, flat or house) available for rent
- The website advertises flats to let in the local area.