Subject + 让 + Person + Verb
Reach for 让 when one person causes or allows another to do something — 'let me,' 'make him,' 'have her.' The structure is fixed: subject, then 让, then the person being acted on, then what they end up doing. It covers a wide range from permission ('Mom let me go') to causation ('that song makes me cry') to instruction ('I had her wait outside'). One of the most useful little verbs in Chinese — appears constantly in daily speech.
Structure
[SUBJECT] 让 [PERSON] [VERB_PHRASE]
...ràng [PERSON] [VERB]
How to Think About It
让 is a pivot verb: the person after 让 is BOTH the object of 让 AND the subject of the next verb. In 妈妈让我去 ('Mom let me go'), 我 is what 妈妈 acted on AND who's doing 去. Don't try to translate 让 with one English word — it covers 'let,' 'make,' 'have,' and 'cause' depending on context. The verb after the person can be anything, including stative verbs (让我高兴 = 'makes me happy').
Examples
妈妈让我去公园玩。
Māma ràng wǒ qù gōngyuán wán.
Mom let me go play at the park.
这首歌让我想起了我的家乡。
Zhè shǒu gē ràng wǒ xiǎng qǐ le wǒ de jiāxiāng.
This song makes me think of my hometown.
老师让学生回答问题。
Lǎoshī ràng xuésheng huídá wèntí.
The teacher had the student answer the question.
Common Mistake
Learners put the verb directly after 让 with no person in between, copying English structures like 'let go.' 让 always needs a person (or pronoun) in the slot before the verb.
妈妈让去公园。
妈妈让我去公园。
Don't Confuse With
叫 + Person + Verb
叫 leans more toward 'tell / order' someone to do something. 让 is broader and softer — can mean let, make, or have.
使 + Person + Verb
使 is the formal cousin of 让 ('cause / make'). Used mostly in writing or to emphasize the causal force. 使我感动 sounds more written than 让我感动.
请 + Person + Verb
请 is a polite invitation or request ('please / ask someone to'). 让 can be neutral, permissive, or causal; 请 is always polite.
Practice
妈妈____我去公园玩。
Show answer
让
这首歌让我____起了我的家乡。
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想
Arrange: 学生 / 让 / 老师 / 回答 / 问题
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老师让学生回答问题。
The computer wants Xiao Ming to buy things.
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电脑想让小明买东西。
Write a sentence using 让 about something someone made you do.
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爸爸让我每天早上六点起床。
Hear It in Real Episodes
This pattern appears in 1 Fluentide episode:
Related Grammar Patterns
Acquire by listening
Hear Subject + 让 + Person + Verb in real Chinese, not in a textbook.
Fluentide picks the next news episode at your level, so this pattern shows up again and again in real context. The transcript marks it, the audio drills it. Free to start, no card.