Grammar Challenge: 'let' & 'allow'

Welcome to Grammar Challenge from BBC Learning English dot com.

Let's meet this week's challenger.

My name is Husniye. I come from Turkey.

I am studying English in Bloomsbury International School.

I am archaeologist.

First time I came here, I first went to British Museum.

Husniye, do you go out much in London to the theatre or to concerts?

No, I don't.

— Well, Matt went to a concert last week. — Yeah.

— But he was prevented from enjoying it. — Yeah.

Please listen carefully to this clip

and then tell me what happened at the concert.

How was the concert, Matt?

Oh, it was awful, Jackie.

Soon after it started, I got really thirsty.

They let me go out to get a drink, but then they wouldn't let me back in!

They said that people who leave the theatre during a performance

are not allowed to re-enter, so I only saw the first 15 minutes.

He wants something to drink.

He went out and, after he come back,

he didn't allowed to go theatre again.

He wasn't allowed.

Yeah, he wasn't allowed to go again.

OK, well, we'll find out whether you're right

by going over to our grammar expert, Catherine.

Hello, Husniye! That's spot on! Matt didn't see much of the concert.

When he went out to get a drink, he was refused permission to go back in.

In English, to talk about giving and refusing permission,

we can use both 'let' and 'allow'.

Both words mean 'give permission to do something'. First, here's Matt using 'let'.

They let me go out to get a drink, but then they wouldn't let me back in!

Now, the verb 'let' is usually followed by a noun or object pronoun,

and then by an infinitive without 'to'.

Listen again.

They let me go out to get a drink.

Did you hear it? Let, me, go.

Let, pronoun, infinitive.

Now, 'let' can be made negative by using an auxiliary verb,

like 'didn't', 'can't' or 'wouldn't'.

And it's possible to use a prepositional phrase, like 'back in',

instead of the infinitive.

Listen to Matt.

They let me go out to get a drink, but then they wouldn't let me back in!

Now, we can also use 'allow' to talk about permission.

Like 'let', 'allow' is followed by a noun or object pronoun,

but then, it takes an infinitive with 'to', like this.

They allowed me to go out.

They allowed me to go out.

Like 'let', you can use 'won't' or 'wouldn't' to make a negative.

They wouldn't allow me to go back in!

But ‘allow’ is a bit more formal than 'let',

and so it's common to find it in the passive form, like this.

People who leave the auditorium during a performance are not allowed to re-enter.

So, to recap — 'let' and 'allow' are both followed by nouns or object pronouns.

'Let' takes an infinitive without 'to' and 'allow' takes an infinitive with 'to'.

Both can be made negative with an auxiliary verb

and 'allow' is often used in the passive form.

OK, that's all from me. Good luck with your grammar challenge!

Husniye, I want you to imagine that you work at a very big and successful zoo.

— Yeah. — Can we have some zoo noises?

I'm a visitor to your zoo and I have some questions for you.

— Yeah. — Are you ready?

— Yeah. — Can I play with the monkeys?

No, you don't.

Can you use 'let' or 'allow'?

Oh, yeah, OK.

We don't let you to play with the monkey.

OK, with 'let', do we use the infinitive with 'to' or without 'to'?

— Without to. — So, once more?

We don't let you to... We don't let you play with the monkey.

Very good. We don't let you play with the monkeys.

Or perhaps we'd say we won't let you play with the monkeys.

— We won't. — Yeah, very good.

I love stripy things. Can I play with the tigers?

We won't allow... allow you to play with the tiger.

— Good. — Yeah.

For health and safety reasons.

I've brought my swimming costume. Can I go swimming with the penguins?

No, you don't allowed.

Not 'you don't allowed'.

You, yeah.

We are going to poss... Make imposs... Yeah?

Yeah, if you want.

— You are not allowed... — Yes.

..to play with the tiger. No.

— Penguins. — Penguins.

OK. Can I climb the giraffe?

Yes, you can.

I can climb the giraffe?!

OK. No, no, I know your strategy now, you're just gonna let me do anything!

Yeah, and you don't care about the animals.

If you want, you can.

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