Make, Let, Allow Exercises

Make, let, and allow all involve one person influencing another person's actions, but with different levels of force and different grammar patterns. Make means to force or require someone to do something — there is no choice: "The teacher made the students stay late." Let means to permit or allow someone to do something — you give them freedom: "The teacher let the students leave early." Allow is more formal and means to give permission: "The school allows students to use the library after hours."

The grammar difference is critical. Make and let use the bare infinitive (without "to"): "make someone do" and "let someone do." Allow uses the full infinitive (with "to"): "allow someone to do." A common mistake is adding "to" after make or let: "She made me to clean" is wrong — say "She made me clean." In the passive, "make" changes to the full infinitive: "I was made to clean the room" (passive requires "to"). "Let" has no common passive form — use "be allowed to" instead: "I was allowed to leave early." These patterns are frequently tested in Cambridge B1-B2 Use of English tasks.