<p>&quot;问&quot; means &quot;ask (about something)&quot;.</p>
<p>&quot;叫&quot; means &quot;ask/call (to do something)&quot;.</p>
<p>&quot;让&quot; means &quot;let&quot;, including the figurative usage of &quot;make&quot; as in &quot;你们都来了让我很开心&quot; (&quot;It makes me (i.e. lets me be) very happy that you all came&quot;) and &quot;我去让他來道歉&quot; (&quot;I'll go and make him to come and apologize&quot;). It is incorrect to say that &quot;让&quot; ever means &quot;ask (to do something)&quot;. If we wanted to say that, we would use &quot;叫&quot;.</p>
<p>English does not have as much of this figurative use of &quot;let&quot;, but there are some traces such as in &quot;I will let him taste his own medicine!&quot;.</p>
<p>In fact, we can prove that &quot;让&quot; cannot mean &quot;ask (to do something)&quot;, since &quot;我不会让他来&quot; (&quot;I will not let him come&quot;) is totally different from &quot;我不会叫他来&quot; (&quot;I will not call him to come&quot;)!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-24T10:43:04.137Z
2020-06-24T10:43:04.137Z
user21820
<ul>
<li><p>问 = ask (to answer question) e.g. 问他今年多大 - Ask him how old he is (It is a question I want to know the answer)</p>
</li>
<li><p>让 = ask (to do something; request; demand) e.g. 我去让他來道歉 - I'll go <strong>ask</strong> him to apologize (ask here is actually a request or demand) - <em>让 (ask) here is the same as (make)</em></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Just remember 问 = ask a question; 让 = ask someone to do something.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-23T20:11:12.443Z
2020-06-24T04:14:10.527Z
2020-06-24T04:14:10.527Z
Tang Ho
<p>How do 问 and 让 differ in meaning and in what sort of situations would you use either of them?</p>
<p>In <a href="https://chinese.yabla.com/chinese-english-pinyin-dictionary.php?define=ask" rel="nofollow noreferrer">chinese.yabla.com</a> there are a lot of different verbs with the meaning 'to ask'.</p>

<translation><usage><difference><word><word-requests>
Difference between 问 and 让 "to ask"
# Difference between 问 and 让 "to ask"

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-06-23)

How do 问 and 让 differ in meaning and in what sort of situations would you use either of them?

In [chinese.yabla.com](https://chinese.yabla.com/chinese-english-pinyin-dictionary.php?define=ask) there are a lot of different verbs with the meaning 'to ask'.

**Tags:** translation, usage, difference, word, word-requests


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-06-24. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

"问" means "ask (about something)".

"叫" means "ask/call (to do something)".

"让" means "let", including the figurative usage of "make" as in "你们都来了让我很开心" ("It makes me (i.e. lets me be) very happy that you all came") and "我去让他來道歉" ("I'll go and make him to come and apologize"). It is incorrect to say that "让" ever means "ask (to do something)". If we wanted to say that, we would use "叫".

English does not have as much of this figurative use of "let", but there are some traces such as in "I will let him taste his own medicine!".

In fact, we can prove that "让" cannot mean "ask (to do something)", since "我不会让他来" ("I will not let him come") is totally different from "我不会叫他来" ("I will not call him to come")!


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### Answer by username_2 on 2020-06-23. Score: 3

* 问 = ask (to answer question) e.g. 问他今年多大 - Ask him how old he is (It is a question I want to know the answer)
* 让 = ask (to do something; request; demand) e.g. 我去让他來道歉 - I'll go **ask** him to apologize (ask here is actually a request or demand) - *让 (ask) here is the same as (make)*

Just remember 问 = ask a question; 让 = ask someone to do something.


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