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lassen. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
lassen, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
lassen in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
lassen you have here. The definition of the word
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Catalan
Verb
lassen
- third-person plural present indicative of lassar
Dutch
Etymology
From Middle Dutch lasschen (“to join together”). Further etymology is unclear, but probably borrowed from Old French lacer (“to tie”).
Pronunciation
Verb
lassen
- to weld
Inflection
Descendants
German
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle High German lāzen, from Old High German lāzan, from Proto-West Germanic *lātan (“to let, allow”), whence English let.
Pronunciation
Verb
lassen (class 7 strong, third-person singular present lässt, past tense ließ, past participle gelassen or (with an infinitive) lassen, auxiliary haben)
- (transitive, with an infinitive, past participle: “lassen”) to allow; to permit; to let
- lasset alle Hoffnung fahren ― abandon all hope
- (transitive, with an infinitive, past participle: “lassen”) to have someone (do something); to have (something done); to make (something happen); to cause (something to be done)
Wir haben neue Schränke für die Küche machen lassen.- We had new cabinets made for the kitchen.
Hast du dir die Haare schneiden lassen?- Did you get your hair cut?
- (transitive, past participle: “gelassen”) to let remain, to leave (in a certain state)
Mir ist es lieber, meine Haare grau zu lassen.- I prefer to leave my hair grey.
- (transitive, past participle: “gelassen”) to stop (something); to quit; to refrain from; to help doing (something)
- (intransitive, past participle: “gelassen”) to cease; to desist
Usage notes
- Note that the English phrases "to let someone do something" and "to make someone do something" both translate into German as jemanden etwas tun lassen. In order to avoid ambiguity, "to let" can be expressed as jemandem erlauben, etwas zu tun or zulassen, dass jemand etwas tut, while "to make" can be expressed as jemanden dazu bringen, etwas zu tun or dafür sorgen, dass jemand etwas tut.
- In perfect tenses, lassen + infinitive takes a double-infinitive construction, i.e. both verbs are in the infinitive: Ich habe mir die Haare schneiden lassen. (“I’ve had my hair cut.”). However, colloquially, gelassen may also be used.
Conjugation
Conjugation of
lassen (class 7
strong, auxiliary
haben)
1With an infinitive.
2This form and alternative in würde both found.
Composed forms of
lassen (class 7
strong, auxiliary
haben)
Some forms are missing in the above table, e.g.
Traditionally ß is used in several places, e.g.:
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
Luxembourgish
Adjective
lassen
- inflection of lass:
- strong/weak nominative/accusative masculine singular
- weak dative masculine/neuter singular
- strong/weak dative plural
Swedish
Noun
lassen
- definite plural of lass