<p>(Note: I'm just a learner, but I'll try to answer this.)  I don't think <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E8%AE%A9" rel="nofollow noreferrer">让</a> is one way or the other.</p>
<p>Sometimes it's &quot;let&quot; (or &quot;allow&quot;) and not &quot;make&quot;:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>女朋友不<strong>让</strong>我进她的卧室 (<a href="https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/468433535.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">link</a>)<br />
My girlfriend won't <strong>let</strong> me in her bedroom.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Sometimes it's &quot;make&quot; and not &quot;let&quot;:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>哪些行为<strong>让</strong>你感到生气？ (<a href="https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/1547186397306749507.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">link</a>)<br />
What behaviors <strong>make</strong> you feel angry?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And then we have other sentences where it's somewhere in between:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>第一次去男朋友家吃饭就<strong>让</strong>我洗碗 (<a href="http://bbs.tianya.cn/post-1095-180730-1.shtml" rel="nofollow noreferrer">link</a>)<br />
The first time I went to my boyfriend's house to eat a meal, [they] <strong>had</strong> me wash the dishes.</p>
<p>我<strong>让</strong>他帮我找工作 (<a href="https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/1116936690649712579.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">link</a>)<br />
I <strong>have</strong> him help me find a job.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Both of these could instead mean &quot;let&quot; or &quot;make&quot; depending on the context.</p>
<p>(Further examples are at the <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Causative_verbs" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Chinese Grammar Wiki</a>.)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-25T12:11:37.680Z
Now it's clear to me that 让 have no default (I initially thought it is **let**, then later assumed  that it is **make**) meaning. Nice examples too on expounding where it's somewhere in between
Michael Buen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-29T06:44:59.943Z
让 in >哪些行为让你感到生气< functions more like "cause" and "make" does contain the meaning of "cause"
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-25T11:23:23.743Z
2019-10-25T11:23:23.743Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Becky 李蓓
<p>It all depends on the context. The readers would know which meaning of 让 you are referring to, by having the information of the activity is wanted or unwanted, and decide 让 means "make" or "let"</p>

<p>In most case, eating apple is something you like to do, therefore, "让" in "我父母让我吃苹果" should be interpreted as  "let" unless you specify you hate apple</p>

<p>For example: "我父母让我吃苹果，我就假裝牙痛" - "Whenever my parent make me eat apple, I would pretend to have a toothache." </p>

<p><em>If you need to make excuse to avoid eating apple, the readers would know you don't like apple and decide "让" means "make" instead of "let"</em></p>

<p>Similarly:  "我父母(終於肯)让我吃苹果" - "My parent (finally agree to) let me eat apple"</p>

<p><em>From the words "finally agree to" we know you don't get to eat apple often or it has been a long time since you had one. We can confidently presume  "让" here means "let"</em></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-25T09:04:55.350Z
2019-10-25T10:37:46.493Z
2019-10-25T10:37:46.493Z
Tang Ho
<p>Based on someone’s <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/35433/how-to-state-unpleasantness-in-written-form-let-becomes-make/35434#35434">answer</a> on question regarding <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/35433/how-to-state-unpleasantness-in-written-form-let-becomes-make/35434">how to state unpleasantness in Chinese</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>让 (to make) implies "to force/ to order". If something has to be
  forced upon you, that something is most likely unpleasant to you</p>
</blockquote>

<p>That seems to be true. Maybe that’s why my wife (Chinese) told me that both <strong>let</strong> and <strong>making</strong> are <strong>让</strong> in this sentence: </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Mama! Papa won't <strong>let</strong> me watch TV, he's <strong>making</strong> me do house
  chores first”.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I mostly associate 让 with <strong>let</strong>, perhaps I should associate 让 more with <strong>make</strong> </p>

<p>So for a native speaker, the following mostly sounds like commanding (<strong>making</strong>). Correct me in this assessment.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>我父母<strong>让</strong>我吃苹果</p>
</blockquote>

<p>and is best translated as:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>My parents are <strong>making</strong> me eat apples</p>
</blockquote>

<p>instead of:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>My parents <strong>let</strong> me eat apples</p>
</blockquote>

<p>So instead of looking for the equivalent word of <strong>make</strong> in Chinese, I should instead look for the equivalent word of <strong>let</strong> in Chinese.</p>

<p>Thus (if someone enjoy apples like they enjoy chocolates):</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>My parents <strong>let</strong> me eat apples.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>is best translated in Chinese as:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>我父母<strong>允许</strong>我吃苹果</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Is that the best translation? </p>

<p>Am I correct with my assessment that <strong>让</strong> should be regarded more as <strong>make</strong> than <strong>let</strong>? </p>

<p>Or am I just sweating it out too much?  Can I liberally use <strong>让</strong> for both <strong>make</strong> and <strong>let</strong>, as long as there is a context that can disambiguate the sentence?</p>

<hr>

<p><a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/users/13882/tang-ho">Tang Ho</a>'s <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/35435/is-%E8%AE%A9-more-make-than-let/35437#35437">answer</a> is spot on. It all really depends on context, even Google does not blindly translates sentence. Chocolate is generally liked, <strong>让</strong> is translated as <strong>let</strong>. Vegetables is generally disliked, <strong>让</strong> is translated as <strong>asked</strong>(making/pursuading/forcing).</p>

<p>Here are Chinese to English translations by Google:</p>

<p>我父母<strong>让</strong>我吃巧克力.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>My parents <strong>let</strong> me eat chocolate.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>我父母<strong>让</strong>我吃蔬菜.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>My parents <strong>asked</strong> me to eat vegetables.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>See the difference there? We just replaced chocolate with vegetables, and Google Translate's algorithm determines what's the best English translation for the same <strong>让</strong> wording, sometimes 让 is <strong>let</strong>, sometimes 让 is <strong>asked</strong>(making/pursuading/forcing), depending on pleasantness/unpleasantness of the subject food</p>

<p>我父母让我吃鸡肉.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>My parents let me eat chicken.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>我父母让我吃鸭肉.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>My parents asked me to eat duck meat.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Chocolate is generally liked. But if you need to make excuse to avoid eating chocolate, the readers(and even Google too) would know you don't like chocolate and decide "<strong>让</strong>" means "<strong>asked, making</strong> (pursuaded, forced)" instead of "<strong>let</strong>"</p>

<p>我父母让我吃巧克力，我就假裝牙痛.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>My parents asked me to eat chocolate, and I pretended to have a toothache.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>我父母让我吃蔬菜，我就假裝牙痛.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>My parents asked me to eat vegetables, and I pretended to have a toothache.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>我父母让我吃鸡肉，我就假裝牙痛.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>My parents asked me to eat chicken, and I pretended to have a toothache.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>我父母让我吃鸭肉，我就假裝牙痛.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>My parents asked me to eat duck meat, and I pretended to have a toothache.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>我父母終於肯让我吃巧克力.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>My parents finally let me eat chocolate.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>我父母終於肯让我吃蔬菜.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>My parents finally let me eat vegetables.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>我父母終於肯让我吃鸡肉.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>My parents finally let me eat chicken.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>我父母終於肯让我吃鸭肉.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>My parents finally let me eat duck.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-06T08:49:15.087Z
See also the answers to this question https://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/39693/25265
Puco4
<meaning-in-context><difference>
Is 让 more [make] than [let]?
# Is 让 more [make] than [let]?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-10-25)

Based on someone’s [answer](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/35433/how-to-state-unpleasantness-in-written-form-let-becomes-make/35434#35434) on question regarding [how to state unpleasantness in Chinese](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/35433/how-to-state-unpleasantness-in-written-form-let-becomes-make/35434):

> 让 (to make) implies "to force/ to order". If something has to be
> forced upon you, that something is most likely unpleasant to you

That seems to be true. Maybe that’s why my wife (Chinese) told me that both **let** and **making** are **让** in this sentence:

> Mama! Papa won't **let** me watch TV, he's **making** me do house
> chores first”.

I mostly associate 让 with **let**, perhaps I should associate 让 more with **make**

So for a native speaker, the following mostly sounds like commanding (**making**). Correct me in this assessment.

> 我父母**让**我吃苹果

and is best translated as:

> My parents are **making** me eat apples

instead of:

> My parents **let** me eat apples

So instead of looking for the equivalent word of **make** in Chinese, I should instead look for the equivalent word of **let** in Chinese.

Thus (if someone enjoy apples like they enjoy chocolates):

> My parents **let** me eat apples.

is best translated in Chinese as:

> 我父母**允许**我吃苹果

Is that the best translation?

Am I correct with my assessment that **让** should be regarded more as **make** than **let**?

Or am I just sweating it out too much? Can I liberally use **让** for both **make** and **let**, as long as there is a context that can disambiguate the sentence?

---

[username_3 Ho](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/users/13882/username_3)'s [answer](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/35435/is-%E8%AE%A9-more-make-than-let/35437#35437) is spot on. It all really depends on context, even Google does not blindly translates sentence. Chocolate is generally liked, **让** is translated as **let**. Vegetables is generally disliked, **让** is translated as **asked**(making/pursuading/forcing).

Here are Chinese to English translations by Google:

我父母**让**我吃巧克力.

> My parents **let** me eat chocolate.

我父母**让**我吃蔬菜.

> My parents **asked** me to eat vegetables.

See the difference there? We just replaced chocolate with vegetables, and Google Translate's algorithm determines what's the best English translation for the same **让** wording, sometimes 让 is **let**, sometimes 让 is **asked**(making/pursuading/forcing), depending on pleasantness/unpleasantness of the subject food

我父母让我吃鸡肉.

> My parents let me eat chicken.

我父母让我吃鸭肉.

> My parents asked me to eat duck meat.

Chocolate is generally liked. But if you need to make excuse to avoid eating chocolate, the readers(and even Google too) would know you don't like chocolate and decide "**让**" means "**asked, making** (pursuaded, forced)" instead of "**let**"

我父母让我吃巧克力，我就假裝牙痛.

> My parents asked me to eat chocolate, and I pretended to have a toothache.

我父母让我吃蔬菜，我就假裝牙痛.

> My parents asked me to eat vegetables, and I pretended to have a toothache.

我父母让我吃鸡肉，我就假裝牙痛.

> My parents asked me to eat chicken, and I pretended to have a toothache.

我父母让我吃鸭肉，我就假裝牙痛.

> My parents asked me to eat duck meat, and I pretended to have a toothache.

我父母終於肯让我吃巧克力.

> My parents finally let me eat chocolate.

我父母終於肯让我吃蔬菜.

> My parents finally let me eat vegetables.

我父母終於肯让我吃鸡肉.

> My parents finally let me eat chicken.

我父母終於肯让我吃鸭肉.

> My parents finally let me eat duck.

**Tags:** meaning-in-context, difference

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: See also the answers to this question https://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/39693/25265  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-10-25. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

It all depends on the context. The readers would know which meaning of 让 you are referring to, by having the information of the activity is wanted or unwanted, and decide 让 means "make" or "let"

In most case, eating apple is something you like to do, therefore, "让" in "我父母让我吃苹果" should be interpreted as "let" unless you specify you hate apple

For example: "我父母让我吃苹果，我就假裝牙痛" - "Whenever my parent make me eat apple, I would pretend to have a toothache."

*If you need to make excuse to avoid eating apple, the readers would know you don't like apple and decide "让" means "make" instead of "let"*

Similarly: "我父母(終於肯)让我吃苹果" - "My parent (finally agree to) let me eat apple"

*From the words "finally agree to" we know you don't get to eat apple often or it has been a long time since you had one. We can confidently presume "让" here means "let"*


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-10-25. Score: 2

(Note: I'm just a learner, but I'll try to answer this.) I don't think [让](http://youdao.com/w/%E8%AE%A9) is one way or the other.

Sometimes it's "let" (or "allow") and not "make":

> 女朋友不**让**我进她的卧室 ([link](https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/468433535.html))  
> My girlfriend won't **let** me in her bedroom.

Sometimes it's "make" and not "let":

> 哪些行为**让**你感到生气？ ([link](https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/1547186397306749507.html))  
> What behaviors **make** you feel angry?

And then we have other sentences where it's somewhere in between:

> 第一次去男朋友家吃饭就**让**我洗碗 ([link](http://bbs.tianya.cn/post-1095-180730-1.shtml))  
> The first time I went to my boyfriend's house to eat a meal, [they] **had** me wash the dishes.
>
> 我**让**他帮我找工作 ([link](https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/1116936690649712579.html))  
> I **have** him help me find a job.

Both of these could instead mean "let" or "make" depending on the context.

(Further examples are at the [Chinese Grammar Wiki](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Causative_verbs).)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Now it's clear to me that 让 have no default (I initially thought it is **let**, then later assumed  that it is **make**) meaning. Nice examples too on expounding where it's somewhere in between  
> **username_3**: 让 in >哪些行为让你感到生气< functions more like "cause" and "make" does contain the meaning of "cause"  

---

