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Lets vs. Let’s

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  Marius Alza  —  Grammar Tips
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Lets vs. Let's

 A common misspelling that occurs more and more often is the wrong replacement of "lets" with "let's" and vice versa. Good news is that you can easily observe and fix this error, if you perfectly understand where "let's" comes from and how "lets" is formed. The way they form also reflects the way they should be used and the contexts where they are correct.

Find out how "lets" and "let's" are formed and how to use them correctly in English!

Lets vs. Let's

Even though they are pronounced perfectly identical and written with the exact same letters, this doesn't mean the apostrophe is optional according to your preference. "Let" is an English verb mainly defined as the action of allowing someone to do something or allowing something to happen.

"Lets" and "let's" are two different forms of conjugating the verb "let" according to the subject and to the object of a sentence.

When do we use "lets"?

For regular verbs, the present simple tense for the third person (singular) is formed by simply adding "-s" in the end of the word. This rule also applies to "let", and this is how you get "lets" as a singular third person verb in present simple. This is the only context in which "lets" can be spelled like this:
Example: Grandma lets me help her around the house because she knows she can't do it all alone anymore.

When do we use "let's"?

As "let" is somehow synonym with "allow", it is also used quite similarly. More exactly, you usually say "allow me to..." or "allow him to...". It is an action projected upon another object, and the same happens with "let". It is frequently used in constructions such as "let me...", "let her...". Well, if the object happens to be the first person, plural, then you would have "let us".

In order to keep things short and pronunciation easier, it is a common situation that the first vowel of a word disappears and is replaced with an apostrophe, in order to be pronounced together with the previous word. This is exactly what happens with "let's". It is actually the abbreviated form of "let us", where the apostrophe is replacing "u". As a result, it can never be replaced with "lets", because it is used with a completely different purpose.
Example: Let's go to the restaurant, what do you think?

Conclusion

"Lets" is the singular third person present simple of the verb, whereas "let's" is a shorter form for "let us". Simply remembering this will stop you from confusing and using these words wrongly.

Lets vs. Let’s

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