In English, the verbs "make" and "let" are followed by an object and the infinitive without "to":
They can't make you work late.
She made him do the exercise again.
She lets the students sing in class.
His parents let him paint his room black.
Be careful: in the passive, "make" is followed by the infinitive with "to":
They were made to do the exercise again.
"Have" can also be used in this pattern:
Please have your secretary call me as soon as possible.
(Please ask your secretary to call me…)
Other English verbs not followed by the infinitive + to
Modal verbs (can, will, would, etc) are followed by the infinitive without "to":
I can see him clearly.
They will leave early tomorrow.
If I were you, I would talk to her.
(Click here for more information on modals.)
See / hear / watch someone followed by the infinitive without "to":
She saw the girl steal the money. (She saw all the action of stealing.)
I heard him tell her about the party." (I heard all about the party.)
I watched them do the exercise. (I watched them complete the exercise.)
But remember:
If you follow these verbs with the gerund form (ing), you only see part of the action.
She saw him talking to the teacher. (She didn't see the whole conversation.)
See also How to use gerunds in English
58 comments on “Make and let”
When I returned to the kitchen, I found the water overflow / overflowed
… I saw the water overflowing or I saw the water overflow.
If the water was in the process of overflowing, you did not see the entire spill. So: When I returned to the kitchen, I saw the water overflowing.
If the water had stopped overflowing, you saw the entire spill. So: When I returned to the kitchen, I saw the water overflow.
she makes me cuddle her
he lets ma drive his car
I'll let my brother use my bike if he lets me use his laptop.
she let me read her book
I let my kid watch his favourite cartoons.
Let me finish my work before 5.pm
Let's talk on this topic.
Let them enjoy themselves on their own
My boss saw me chatting online in work time yesterday. Then he makes me do some extra work today.
my wife makes me happy when she lets me to go to futball match
they made me cry
I will let you know.
You made me live again.
Let me in.
Let the sunshine in.
Let me talk.
Let me see your bag.
English at home make me study english more easily.
wowww,,,,thats funtastic ! i like it
my wife makes me happy when she lets me to go to football match.
here should be ' to go' or only 'go'
pramod » It should be "go" without "to".
My wife makes me happy when she lets me go to the football match.
I'll make my English better with this website
thanks
How is the passive of "Let"? Is "let" followed by the infinitive with "to"?
Ex:
Active: she lets the students sing in class.
Passive: 1. The students are let to sing in class.
2. The students are let sing in class.
3. The students let to be sung in class.
Which sentence is right?
Thanks
MamTom » You can't make the passive with let. You can say instead:
The students are allowed to sing in class.
I make my daughter study hard.
She was made to study English by teacher.
He lets the children play in the park.
Is my sentence correct?
Peter » Yes!
If you make a mess, I won't let you hang out.
Please correct me if I am wrong.
Thanks
Blue Heaven » Correct!
I saw the car crashing the road when I made my eyes outside through the window.
I am not sure the sentence is correct. Please help me, thanks.
StevenLee » No, the sentence isn't correct. I don't understand what you mean by "…made my eyes outside through the window".
I want to mean by "I saw a car crashing on the road when I looked out the window."
Is the last sentence correct?
StevenLee » This sentence is better. You could say "I saw a car crash when I looked out of the window".
thanks for this perfect lesson ,i see this site every day thank you. my parents make me happy.
I heard that guys singing a song loudly, because I let them made a party .
please help to correct my sentence, if it's wrong.
thanks!
I heard those guys singing loudly, because I let them have a party.
let me study my books…
when i find this website I said It will make me speak english perfectly!
I can't speak o write english very well but i think diz website can help me 2 learn english step by step.I wish i can have english teacher lyk u clare 2 teach me about english.u answers all questions with patient.n da bst thing is u teach n share ur knowledge to all people without us hv 2 pay 4 it..thousand of thanks..*sorry,if got any mistaken on my writing english
Please , if you want to speak English , try to use the correct words, like : diz = this ; lyk = like ;da = the ; N = and ; 2 pay = to pay ; 4 it = for it … etc .
Excuse me , but i had to say this .We are studying here ..All of us i think .
Thank you
im trying to learn and speak english very well so i need your help Clare. she didn't understood what i meant when i told her that he tried so hard to describe himself. plz correct
thank you
There are so many ideas in your sentence that it's difficult to understand. Can you make the sentence simpler?
let me see this film
you made me understand english more clearly,thank you
My mother let me go to partys
My brother make me do his homeworks
are the sentences correct ???
My mother let me go to the party.
My brother makes me do his homework.
I would like to know about "wanna"and how to using it
Have a look at this page on using abbreviations (including wanna):
http://www.english-at-home.com/real-life-english/how-to-use-abbreviations/
i will let u go but make me some pie first
I won't let you go if you don't make me happy.
English knowledge… this is the best spot to start… the finest i might say
She makes me read the instructions carefully in order that i should remember it .
is my sentence correct ? Thanks !
Yes, though it should be "in order that I (should) remember them".
yes,, but the let and the make they are same meaning?
No – let means "allow", while make means "force" or "oblige".
1. They will make a history, if you let them work independently.
2. Please let us know when you would like to make any changes in the plan.
The above 2 sentences are correct?please correct me.
2 is fine, though I'd write "if" instead of "when".
I don't understand 1 "make a history". What do you mean exactly?
please could you tell the difference between(how are you)and (how have you been)
i was realy confused in using let and make dut now thinks become clearer
There's no real difference when we use these expressions when we meet someone we know. "How are you?" is used in all situations, but maybe we'd use "how have you been?" if we haven't seen the person for a while.
My friend makes my life better.
i will let my English improve with the website.
Right ??
The first is fine. But the second is wrong. You could say "My English will improve with this website."
i make many friends by behaving good with them.
i make him do his assignment before i let him watch his favorite show
I let my daughter play game online
My boss made me write this report