Form Meaning Passive forms Common mistakes Exercises

Form

These three verbs let you say that one person causes another person to do something. Each has its own pattern — this is the part learners get wrong most often:

VerbPatternExample
makemake + person + bare infinitive (no "to")She made me clean my room.
letlet + person + bare infinitive (no "to")She let me borrow her car.
allowallow + person + to + infinitive (needs "to")They allowed us to leave early.
The #1 mistake: Make and let never take "to" in the active voice: ✗ "She made me to clean my room." ✗ "She let me to borrow her car." Allow is the opposite — it always needs "to": ✗ "They allowed us leave early."

Meaning

VerbMeaningExample
make force or oblige someone — they have no real choice The teacher made the students redo the exercise.
let give permission — casual, neutral register My parents let me stay out until midnight.
allow give permission — more formal, often official rules/policies The airline allows passengers to bring one carry-on bag.
Let vs Allow — same meaning, different register: Both mean "give permission." Let is what you'll hear in everyday spoken English. Allow sounds more formal and official — signs, rules, and written policies almost always say "allowed," never "let."

Passive forms

Something interesting happens to these verbs in the passive — pay close attention to "to":

ActivePassive
They made him sign the contract. He was made to sign the contract.
They allowed her to leave early. She was allowed to leave early.
They let him go home. No common passive with let — use be allowed to instead: He was allowed to go home.
Make is the tricky one: Make takes NO "to" in the active, but GAINS "to" in the passive — the opposite of what you'd expect: "They made me wait." → "I was made to wait."
Don't confuse "let go" with this "let": "To let someone go" is a fixed phrasal verb meaning to fire someone from a job — it has nothing to do with the causative "let" on this page: "They had to let three employees go." (= they were fired, not "allowed to leave")

Common mistakes

WrongCorrectWhy
✗ She let me to borrow her car.✓ She let me borrow her car.let never takes "to" in the active
✗ He made me to clean my room.✓ He made me clean my room.make never takes "to" in the active
✗ They allowed us leave early.✓ They allowed us to leave early.allow always needs "to"
✗ I was made clean the room.✓ I was made to clean the room.make needs "to" in the passive

Exercises

EXERCISE:

Exercise 1 — Choose the correct form

Choose the correct sentence.

1. My boss ___ finish the report before I left.

2. My grandmother ___ eat all the vegetables on my plate.

3. The new policy ___ employees to work from home twice a week.

4. He wasn't happy about it, but he ___ leave the building.

5. After the accident, she ___ rest for two full weeks.

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