Make, Let & Help
Level B1 · Verb Patterns
make, let, and help all describe one person influencing what another person does — forcing, allowing, or assisting. What trips learners up is the form of the second verb: after these verbs + object, English uses the bare infinitive (no to), unlike most verbs, which take to: My parents made me tidy my room (not made me to tidy).
The pattern is verb + object + bare infinitive, with one flexible exception:
- make + object + bare infinitive = force or cause: The film made me cry; She made him apologize.
- let + object + bare infinitive = allow: My parents let me stay out late; Let me help you.
- help + object + bare infinitive or to-infinitive — both are correct: She helped me carry the bags / She helped me to carry the bags.
- get + object + to-infinitive = persuade or arrange (note: get is the odd one out — it does take to): I got him to sign the form.
In the passive, make changes its pattern: the bare infinitive becomes a to-infinitive — He was made to wait outside (not was made wait). let has no usual passive; use be allowed to instead: We were allowed to leave early (not we were let leave).
The most common mistake is inserting to after make or let: she made me to cry and let me to go are both wrong — these two verbs always take the bare infinitive in the active: she made me cry, let me go. A second frequent error: forgetting the switch in the passive — he was made wait is wrong; the passive of make needs to: he was made to wait.
Look for make/let/help + a person + a second verb — the second verb's form (bare infinitive after make/let, either form after help, to-infinitive after get) is the point being tested, along with was/were made to and was/were allowed to in the passive.