Let, Make, Allow

Let, Make, Allow: What’s the Difference? (Clear Guide + Common Mistakes)

Many English learners say things like:

❌ He made me to do it.

❌ They let me to go home early.

❌ I was let to enter the building.

These sentences feel logical. But they are wrong.

The verbs let, make, and allow all talk about giving permission or causing someone to do something — but they are not used in the same way and they do not mean the same thing.

In this lesson, you will finally understand:

• the real difference in meaning
• the correct grammar structure
• the most common exam mistakes
• and how to use these verbs accurately in B2 First & C1 Advanced

LET = give permission (informal, direct)

Let means: to give someone permission to do something. It is neutral, direct, and very common in everyday English.

Structure

let + object + bare infinitive (no “to”)

• Will you let me pass?
• My parents let me stay out late at the weekend.
• The teacher let the students leave early.
• We let the children play in the garden.
• I can’t let you in unless you have an invitation.

Important grammar rule

❌ He let me to go.

✅ He let me go.

Never use “to” after let.

MAKE = force or cause (stronger meaning)

Make means: to force someone to do something or to cause something to happen. It is stronger than let and often implies no choice.

Structure

make + object + bare infinitive (no “to”)

Examples (forcing someone)

• His parents made him do his homework.
• The boss made us stay late.
• They made her apologise.

Examples (causing a reaction)

• That film made me cry.
• The joke made everyone laugh.
• The news made him angry.

Common mistake

❌ They made me to work late.

✅ They made me work late.

ALLOW = permit (more formal, more official)

Allow also means to let someone do something, but it is more formal and often used for rules, laws, and official situations.

Structure

allow + object + to-infinitive

• They don’t allow people to smoke here.
• My parents don’t allow me to stay out after midnight.
• Please allow me to make a suggestion.
• The school allows students to use laptops.

Very important difference

Unlike let, allow CAN be used in the passive.

• The prisoners were allowed to receive letters.
• Children should not be allowed to watch violent films.

❌ The prisoners were let to receive letters.

Let vs Allow: same meaning, different style

Summary: which one should I use?

Use:

LET → when you talk about simple permission in everyday situations

MAKE → when you talk about forcing or causing

ALLOW → when you talk about rules, laws, formal permission

Common mistakes

❌ He made me to do it.

❌ They let her to leave.

❌ I was let to enter.

✅ He made me do it.

✅ They let her leave.

✅ I was allowed to enter.

This topic appears very often in sentence transformations, open cloze, key word transformations and error correction. Examiners love testing:

• make vs let
• bare infinitive vs to-infinitive
• passive with allow

If you master this, you gain easy points.

Let, make, and allow are small words. But using them correctly makes your English sound more accurate, more natural, more advanced and more exam-ready.

And in English, small grammar points often make a big difference.

If you really want to learn English but don’t know how or where to start, don’t hesitate to contact us. Book an online English lesson with one of our certified and experienced English teachers and take a test and consultation! Tap the banner to learn more!