Causative Verbs: LET and MAKE (Basic Grammar)

Are cell phones good or bad for children? When should parents let their children have a cell phone? Some parents let their children have a cell phone before high school. Other parents make their children wait. In this lesson, let's talk about the verbs LET and MAKE. Ready? When someone lets you do something, they're saying, They allow you. They give you permission. We use LET, SOMEONE, plus the base verb. Some parents let their children have a cell phone. Some parents let their children use social media. My neighbor lets her son play video games. The negative form uses DO NOT LET or DOES NOT LET. Or we can use the contractions DON'T LET, DOESN'T LET. Some parents do not let their children have a cell phone. Some parents don't let their children use social media. My neighbor doesn't let her son play video games. The past tense uses LET or DIDN'T LET. LET is an irregular verb. We didn't have cell phones when I was a child, but we had TV. My parents let me watch TV, but they didn't let me watch TV before 6 p.m. on a school night. My parents didn't let me drink soda, but my grandparents did. Notice here how I can use DID because it's short and it's clear. I don't have to repeat the whole idea. I don't have to say, but my grandparents let me drink soda. Remember, the pattern is LET SOMEONE DO SOMETHING. LET WHOM. We can use object pronouns, but not subject pronouns. LET ME, LET YOU, LET HIM, LET HER, LET US, LET THEM. Practice making a couple of sentences with me. Put the words in the correct order. Jennifer lets her children stay up late. Jennifer's grandparents always let her watch TV. What did your parents let you do? Or if you're a parent, what do you let your children do or not do? Tell me in the comments. Do you know why my parents didn't let me watch TV before 6 p.m.? Because they wanted me to do my homework. I always did my homework. We could say, When someone makes you do something, there is no choice. You must do it. You have to do it. We use MAKE, SOMEONE, plus the base verb. Some parents don't let their children have a cell phone before high school. They make their children wait. The negative uses DO NOT MAKE or DOES NOT MAKE. Or we can use the contractions DON'T MAKE or DOESN'T MAKE. Some parents do not make their children go to sleep early. Some parents don't make their children play outside. My neighbor doesn't make her children do housework. The past tense is MADE or DIDN'T MAKE. MAKE is an irregular verb. My parents made me clean the bathroom. My parents didn't make me wash the dishes. We can also use MAKE in the progressive. Take a look. My neighbor's daughter wants a cell phone, but the mother is making her daughter wait until high school. Practice making a couple of sentences with me. Put the words in the correct order. Jennifer made her children send thank you notes. Jennifer's grandparents didn't make her go to sleep early. What did your parents make you do? Or if you're a parent, what do you make your children do? Tell me in the comments. Is the lesson helpful so far? Please like, subscribe, and turn on notifications. Thank you. Be careful not to use the infinitive with LET or MAKE. Use the base verb. Look. Do you see the mistake? We don't need to. I didn't let my children eat junk food. Look at this sentence. Do you see that mistake? We don't need to. My parents made me clean the bathroom. I like stories. Do you? Let's end with a story to review the different patterns with the verbs LET and MAKE. There were two towns, and they were very different. In one town, they didn't let children or dogs play outside. They didn't let teens dance or play music. They didn't let adults play games. They made everyone work or study. Life here was not happy. In the other town, they let everyone laugh and play games. They made everyone exercise and spend time in nature. They didn't make people work or study. People wanted to work and study because it was fun. Life here was good. Which town sounds better? If you'd like more stories, watch my oral reading fluency playlist. We'll end here. Thanks for watching and happy studies!