lettest

Lettest is an archaic English verb form, specifically the second-person singular present indicative of the verb let. In Early Modern English, thou lettest meant you let, and the form appeared alongside other thou-forms such as "thou hast" and "thou knowest." Today, lettest is no longer used in standard modern English, having been replaced by the simple "you let" in both spoken and written language.

Usage and meaning: The verb let has two primary senses in historical English: to permit or to hinder. In many later texts, the sense of permit is dominant, but in earlier periods the word also carried a more forceful connotation of hindrance. The form lettest is therefore encountered in a variety of contexts, from legal and theological writings to poetry and drama, where the thou conjugation was common. Modern readers typically reconstruct the sense as "you let" and would convert sentences accordingly for contemporary usage.

Grammatical notes: The ordinary modern imperative and present forms—let, lets, letting—do not resemble lettest. For learners, lettest serves as a reminder that English verb conjugation included distinct second-person singular endings in the past, many of which have disappeared in modern usage. The related forms letteth (third-person singular) and letteth or letteth are encountered in older texts.

Additionally, lettest occasionally appears in discussions of historical grammar or in translations of biblical or classical works. In contemporary writing, it is ordinarily replaced by "you let" or rephrased to avoid archaic forms. See also: let, letteth, letted, thou.

Note: As a historical form, lettest is of interest primarily to students of old English, textual scholars, and readers of literature from the Early Modern period.