Let and allow
We often use let and allow to discuss permission. This week, we ask Husniye from Turkey to imagine that she ran a large zoo... but what will she allow William to do with the animals? Listen to find out!

Both let and allow can be used to talk about giving and refusing permission.

Let

subject	let	object	infinitive or prepositional phrase
They	let	me	go out and get a drink.
They	wouldn't let	me	back in.

Allow

subject	let	object	infinitive with to
They	allowed	me	to go out and get a drink.
She	won't allow	anyone	to smoke in the office.

Allow (passive)

passive subject	verb 'to be'	allowed	infinitive with to
He	wasn't	allowed	to go out and get a drink.
Nobody	is	allowed	to smoke in the office.

Download Catherine's grammar explanation and table (pdf - 61 K)

Download this programme (mp3 - 1.8 MB)
[an error occurred while processing this directive]


Now it's your turn to practise let and allow. Go to our quiz page on this subject here.

Meet us		Useful links		Next episode
Catherine and William		Flatmates - make, let and allow Flatmates - obligation and permission Bloomsbury International* *The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites		Next week, we'll be looking at the tricky word unless... Homepage and archive