let's
(Redirected from let’s)
English edit
Alternative forms edit
- let us (more formal)
Etymology edit
Contraction of let us. Compare non-contracted Dutch laat ons, German lass uns (speaker with one other person) / lasst uns (speaker with more other persons) and Swedish låt oss.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
let’s
- Used to form the cohortative of verbs, equivalent of the first-person plural imperative in some other languages.
- Let’s eat lunch sometime.
- I say let’s dance.
- 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
- Let’s get coffee!
Audio (US) (file)
- Let’s get coffee!
- Used to form the hortative of verbs, equivalent of the second-person plural imperative in some other languages, chiefly instructional
- Let’s make sure we don’t forget proper punctuation.
- Hey guys, let’s check to make sure that we proofread.
- Y’all, let’s stop talking please, y’all are driving me up the wall!
Usage notes edit
Negation of let’s is let’s not in standard English.
- Let’s not talk about it.
Don’t is also used, but it is often considered non-standard.
- Let’s don’t talk about it. (US)
- Don’t let’s talk about it. (British)
Tag questions with let’s typically take shall we?.
- Let’s go to the beach, shall we?
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
let us; forming first-person plural imperative
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References edit
- American English and British English, Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language, Tom McArthur, 1998.