LATEn

Laten is a Dutch verb meaning to let, to permit, or to cause something to happen. It is used both to express allowance and to indicate that someone arranges for another person or for an object to perform an action. The construction often conveys a sense of causation, as in having someone else do something, rather than the subject performing it directly. Common uses include permission, requests, and arranging actions through another agent.

In grammar, laten is irregular and can function as both a main verb and a causative auxiliary. Present tense forms include ik laat, jij laat, u laat, hij/zij/het laat, wij laten, jullie laten, zij laten. The past tense is liet for all persons, and the past participle is gelaten, used with hebben in perfect tenses (for example, ik heb het laten zien). Imperatives are Laat! (singular) and Laten we … (let’s …). The causative sense is typically expressed with laten followed by an infinitive, as in Laat hem komen (Let him come) or Ik laat het laten doen (I have it done).

In common usage, laten appears in phrases that express permission or intention, such as Laat me weten (Let me know) and Laten we gaan (Let’s go). It also appears in compound forms to indicate that an action is performed by someone else on behalf of the subject, as in Ik heb het laten schilderen (I had it painted).

Laten is of Germanic origin and is cognate with the German lassen. It can appear in varied fixed expressions and remains a central, versatile element of Dutch sentence construction.