让 (ràng) + Person/Object + Verb/Adj
Use 让 when you want to say someone or something causes, lets, or makes another person do or feel something — 'let me think,' 'this song makes me happy,' 'AI makes us boring.' It's Chinese's main causative verb and shows up everywhere: permission ('let the kids play'), causation ('the news made everyone surprised'), and indirect commands ('let him go first'). The subject can be a person or an abstract thing; whatever follows 让 is the one being affected.
Structure
[CAUSER] 让 [PERSON/OBJECT] [VERB / ADJ]
ràng + [PERSON/OBJECT] + [VERB/ADJ]
How to Think About It
让 hands the action over from one party to another. Read it as 'cause-the-next-noun-to-do-the-following.' Whatever sits right after 让 is the one experiencing or performing the action — never the doer. So in 我让他来, 我 is the one causing it, 他 is the one actually coming. This 'causer + 让 + experiencer + result' shape is rigid; swap the experiencer to the wrong slot and the meaning flips.
Examples
妈妈让我多吃蔬菜。
Māma ràng wǒ duō chī shūcài.
Mom makes me eat more vegetables.
这部电影让大家感动。
Zhè bù diànyǐng ràng dàjiā gǎndòng.
This movie moved everyone.
请让一下，我要过去。
Qǐng ràng yīxià, wǒ yào guòqù.
Please move aside, I need to get through.
Common Mistake
Learners put the causer in the wrong place, especially when translating 'X makes me feel Y.' English starts with the experiencer ('I feel happy because of X'), but Chinese starts with the cause: X 让 我 高兴.
我让这首歌高兴。
这首歌让我高兴。
Don't Confuse With
使
More formal causative ('cause to'). Use 让 in everyday speech; 使 belongs to written register and academic prose.
叫
叫 as a causative ('叫他来') feels more like a direct order. 让 is softer and covers both permission and causation.
把……
把 acts on an object ('我把门关上'). 让 acts on a person or thing that then does something itself ('我让他关门').
Practice
老师____我们认真听课。
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让
这个消息让大家很____。
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高兴
Arrange: 让 / 这本书 / 思考 / 我 / 很多
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这本书让我思考很多。
Translate: The rain made the kids stay home.
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雨让孩子们待在家里。
Write one sentence using 让 about something that makes you happy.
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周末和朋友一起喝咖啡让我很放松。
Hear It in Real Episodes
This pattern appears in 1 Fluentide episode: