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Definition 2024


Lassen

Lassen

See also: lassen

Danish

Proper noun

Lassen

  1. A surname.

lassen

lassen

See also: Lassen

German

Etymology

From Middle High German lāzzen, from Old High German lāzzan, from Proto-Germanic *lētaną. Akin to Dutch laten, English let.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈlasn̩], [ˈlasən]

Verb

lassen (class 7 strong, third-person singular simple present lässt, past tense ließ, past participle gelassen, past subjunctive ließe, auxiliary haben)

  1. (transitive, with an infinitive) to allow; to permit; to let
  2. (transitive, with an infinitive) to have someone (do something); to have (something done); to make (something happen); to cause (something to be done)
    etwas machen lassen — “to have something done”
    jemanden etwas tun lassen — “to have someone do something”
  3. (transitive) to let; to leave
  4. (transitive) to stop (something); to quit; to refrain from; to help doing (something)
  5. (intransitive) to cease; to desist

Usage notes

  • Note that the English phrases "to let someone do something" and "to make someone do something" both translate into German as jemanden etwas tun lassen. In order to avoid ambiguity, "to let" can be expressed as jemandem erlauben, etwas zu tun, and "to make" can be expressed as jemanden dazu bringen, etwas zu tun.
  • In perfect tenses, lassen + infinitive takes a double-infinitive construction, i.e. both verbs are in the infinitive: Ich habe mir die Haare schneiden lassen. (“I’ve had my hair cut.”)

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms


Luxembourgish

Adjective

lassen

  1. inflected form of lass