让 + Person + Action
Reach for this when you want to say someone makes, lets, or has another person do something — 'mom lets me play,' 'the boss made him stay late.' 让 covers a wide range: permission, command, request, and emotional cause-and-effect ('this lets me feel happy'). It's the workhorse causative in Chinese, far more common than 使 or 叫 in everyday speech. The pattern always inserts the person between 让 and the action — no preposition needed.
Structure
[A] 让 [PERSON] [ACTION]
ràng [PERSON] [ACTION]
How to Think About It
让 is a hand-off verb: A hands the action over to PERSON. That's why the PERSON sits sandwiched between 让 and the verb — they're the new subject of what comes next. Read it as two mini-clauses welded together: 'A lets [PERSON do ACTION].' If you put the person in the wrong slot, the welding breaks and the sentence stops making sense. Strength varies by context: 让我看 to a friend is 'let me see'; 让你走 from a boss can mean 'I'm letting you go.'
Examples
妈妈让我多吃菜。
Māma ràng wǒ duō chī cài.
Mom told me to eat more vegetables.
这首歌让我很开心。
Zhè shǒu gē ràng wǒ hěn kāixīn.
This song makes me really happy.
老师让我们写一篇短文。
Lǎoshī ràng wǒmen xiě yì piān duǎnwén.
The teacher had us write a short essay.
Common Mistake
Learners try to mark the person with 给 or skip them entirely, because English causatives sometimes hide the agent ('it makes me happy'). In Chinese, 让 must be followed directly by the person, then the action. Putting 给 before the person turns the sentence into something else (a benefactive), and skipping the person makes it ungrammatical.
他让给我去。
他让我去。
Don't Confuse With
叫 + Person + Action
Stronger and more directive — 'order/tell someone to do something.' 妈妈叫我回家 sounds like a summons; 妈妈让我回家 sounds like permission to go home. 让 is softer and broader.
使 + Person + Adjective/State
Formal causative for emotional or abstract effects, especially in writing — '这件事使我难过' (this saddens me). In speech, 让 covers this too: 这件事让我难过. Default to 让 unless you're writing a news article.
给 + Person + Verb
给 marks a recipient or beneficiary, not a causee. 我给他买了一本书 = 'I bought him a book.' If the person is doing the action, use 让; if the person is receiving an action you do, use 给.
Practice
妈妈 ___ 我早点睡觉。
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让
这部电影让 ___ 很感动。
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我
Put in order: [我 / 老师 / 写 / 让 / 字]
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老师让我写字。
Translate to Chinese: 'My dad won't let me drink coffee.'
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我爸爸不让我喝咖啡。
Write one sentence using A 让 PERSON ACTION about something a family member or friend made you do.
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Example answer: 朋友让我陪她去看医生。 (My friend asked me to go with her to see the doctor.)
Hear It in Real Episodes
This pattern appears in 1 Fluentide episode: