låta

Let/have (Causative)

Level 4

Two useful patterns: låta + performer + bare infinitive and låta + bare infinitive with the performer unexpressed. Compare låta någon reparera cykeln and låta reparera cykeln.

How It Works

låta is a versatile and common verb with two main causative meanings:

1. To let / allow / permit
This is the most common meaning. It's used when someone gives permission for an action to occur.

  • Mamma låter barnen leka ute. (Mom lets the children play outside.)
  • Polisen lät honom gå. (The police let him go.)

2. To have / make / cause something to be done
This is used when you arrange for someone else to perform a service or action for you. It's similar to 'to have something done' in English.

  • Jag ska låta en frisör klippa mitt hår. (I'm going to have a hairdresser cut my hair.)
  • Vi lät måla huset förra året. (We had the house painted last year.)

Key Grammatical Points:

  • The verb directly governed by causative/permissive låta is a bare infinitive, without the infinitive marker att. This is similar to how modal verbs like kan or ska work.
  • låta is an irregular verb. Its forms are: låter (present), lät (past), låtit (supinum).
  • Don't confuse the causative låta with its other meaning, 'to sound' (e.g., Det låter bra! - That sounds good!). The context makes the meaning clear.

Recognize The Whole Construction
In Vi lät måla huset, the painter is unexpressed; huset is what gets painted, not the person doing it. In Hon har låtit håret växa ut, no other person needs to perform a deliberate action: she has allowed a process to continue.

The fixed expression låta bli att göra något means refrain from doing something. Here bli is the bare infinitive directly after låta, and att göra belongs to the larger fixed expression. Its att does not contradict the causative pattern.

Examples (5)

  1. Mina föräldrar lät mig stanna ute sent.

    My parents let me stay out late.

    Word by Word: My parents let me stay out late.

  2. Jag ska låta reparera min cykel.

    I'm going to have my bike repaired.

    Word by Word: I shall let repair my bike.

    Here, 'låta' is used to mean you are arranging for a service to be done by someone else.

  3. Kan du låta bli att göra det?

    Can you stop doing that?

    Word by Word: Can you let be to do that?

    The phrase 'låta bli' is a common fixed expression meaning 'to refrain from' or 'to stop doing'.

  4. Chefen låter oss arbeta hemifrån på fredagar.

    The boss lets us work from home on Fridays.

    Word by Word: The boss lets us work from-home on Fridays.

  5. Hon har låtit håret växa ut.

    She has let her hair grow out.

    Word by Word: She has let the hair grow out.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the infinitive marker 'att' after 'låta'.

    Han lät mig att låna boken.
    Han lät mig låna boken.

    In the construction låta någon göra något, the infinitive directly after the performer is bare: lät mig låna. This does not ban att later in another construction, such as låta bli att låna.

  • Using a conjugated verb instead of an infinitive.

    Jag lät honom gick.
    Jag lät honom gå.

    The verb 'låta' is conjugated according to the tense, but the action verb that follows must always be in its base (infinitive) form.

  • Confusing 'låta' (to let/permit) with 'lämna' (to leave behind).

    Mina föräldrar lämnade mig gå på bio.
    Mina föräldrar lät mig gå på bio.

    For permission in this sentence, use låta någon gå, not a direct substitution with lämna. Lämna has other meanings, including leaving or handing something over. Useful expressions for asking to be left alone are Låt mig vara! and Lämna mig ifred!.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

låtaLevel 4Let/have (Causative)

Learn This First

To learn the causative 'låta', you first need to be comfortable with object pronouns (who is being caused to act) and the concept of the infinitive verb form. It is also helpful to understand basic verb conjugation to use 'låta' correctly in various tenses.

Words in This Pattern

låtalåta