让
to let; to allow; to make (someone do)
ràng
What does 让 mean?
让 (ràng) is a versatile verb covering 'let,' 'allow,' 'have / make (someone do),' and 'yield' — the meaning shifts with context. The core pattern is the 让-construction: 让 + person + verb = 'cause / let / have that person do something.' 妈妈让我吃饭 can mean 'Mom told me to eat,' 'Mom is having me eat,' or 'Mom is letting me eat,' all packed into the same shape — context decides which. The grammar pattern is identical to English 'have / let someone do,' but in Chinese 让 is much more common: it replaces causative 'make,' permissive 'let,' and instructive 'have' all at once. Two secondary uses: 让 also means 'to yield / give way' (让路 'yield the road,' 让座 'give up your seat'), and stands alone as a polite invitation: 让我看看 ('let me have a look').
Character breakdown
to let, allow, have someone do; to yield
Memory hook: 让 = 'let / have someone do.' Mentally fill in 让 + (who) + (what) — that's the whole pattern.
Example sentences
妈妈不让我看电视。
Māma bù ràng wǒ kàn diànshì.
Mom won't let me watch TV.
spoken
让我看看你的照片。
Ràng wǒ kànkan nǐ de zhàopiàn.
Let me take a look at your photos.
spoken
对不起，让你久等了。
Duìbuqǐ, ràng nǐ jiǔ děng le.
Sorry to have kept you waiting.
polite
请让一下，我要下车。
Qǐng ràng yíxià, wǒ yào xià chē.
Excuse me, please move aside — I'm getting off.
spoken, polite
Common phrases with 让
Hear it in real Fluentide episodes
让 appears in 1 podcast episode at natural native speed, with full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.
Synonyms
叫 in the causative pattern means 'tell / have someone do something' and is more directive than 让. 妈妈叫我回家 ('Mom told me to go home') has more authority than 妈妈让我回家. 让 leans toward 'let / allow'; 叫 leans toward 'tell / order.'
使 ('to cause / make') is more formal and written. 这个消息使我很高兴 sounds book-like; in speech you'd say 这个消息让我很高兴. Use 让 in daily Mandarin; reserve 使 for written or formal registers.
Don't confuse 让 with
认 means 'to recognize / admit' (认识 'to know someone'). Different verb, different meaning — don't mix with 让.
被 is the passive marker ('to be done to'). 让 can sometimes function passively too (让狗咬了 'got bitten by a dog'), so the boundary blurs in some sentences, but core 让 is causative/permissive, not passive.