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Let vs Give - What's the difference?

let | give |

In transitive terms the difference between let and give

is that let is Used to introduce an imperative in the first or third person.give is to provide, as, a service or a broadcast.

let

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) leten, .

Verb

  • (label) To allow to, not to prevent (+ infinitive, but usually without (to)).
  • :
  • *(Bible), (w) viii. 28
  • *:Pharaoh said, I will let you go.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:If your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is
  • *1971 , , (The Tombs of Atuan)
  • *:He could not be let die of thirst there alone in the dark.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)
  • , volume=189, issue=2, page=27, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= The tao of tech , passage=The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing",
  • To leave.
  • :
  • *(Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
  • *:Yet neither spins nor cards, ne cares nor frets, / But to her mother Nature all her care she lets .
  • (label) To allow the release of (a fluid).
  • :
  • (label) To allow possession of (a property etc.) in exchange for rent.
  • :
  • (label) To give, grant, or assign, as a work, privilege, or contract; often with out .
  • :
  • (label)
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • To cause (+ bare infinitive).
  • :
  • *:
  • Soo within a whyle kynge Pellinore cam with a grete hoost / and salewed the peple and the kyng / and ther was grete ioye made on euery syde / Thenne the kyng lete serche how moche people of his party ther was slayne / And ther were founde but lytel past two honderd men slayne and viij kny?tes of the table round in their pauelions
  • *1818 , (John Keats), "Toβ€”":
  • *:Time's sea hath been five years at its slow ebb, / Long hours have to and fro let creep the sand.
  • Synonyms
    * (to allow) allow, permit
    Usage notes
    The use of "let" to introduce an imperative may sometimes be confused with its use, as its own imperative , in the sense of "to allow". For example, the sentence "Let me go to the store." could either be a second-person imperative of "let" (addressing someone who might prevent the speaker from going to the store) or a first-person singular imperative of "go" (not implying any such preventer).

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) . More at late, delay.

    Verb

  • (archaic) To hinder, prevent; to obstruct (someone or something).
  • * Bible, 2. Thessalonians ii. 7
  • He who now letteth' will ' let , until he be taken out of the way.
  • * Tennyson
  • Mine ancient wound is hardly whole, / And lets me from the saddle.
  • (obsolete) To prevent or obstruct (to) do something, or (that) something happen.
  • * 1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , Acts VIII:
  • And as they went on their waye, they cam unto a certayne water, and the gelded man sayde: Se here is water, what shall lett me to be baptised?

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An obstacle or hindrance.
  • *, II.16:
  • *:Paulus Emilius'' going to the glorious expedition of ''Macedon'', advertised the people of ''Rome'' during his absence not to speake of his actions: ''For the licence of judgements is an especiall let in great affaires.
  • *Latimer
  • *:Consider whether your doings be to the let of your salvation or not.
  • (tennis) The hindrance caused by the net during serve, only if the ball falls legally.
  • Statistics

    *

    give

    English

    Verb

  • (may take two objects) To move, shift, provide something abstract or concrete to someone or something or somewhere.
  • # To transfer one's possession or holding of (something) to (someone).
  • # To make a present or gift of.
  • # To pledge.
  • # To provide (something) to (someone), to allow or afford.
  • # To cause (a sensation or feeling) to exist in.
  • # To carry out (a physical interaction) with (something).
  • #*
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, with something of the stately pose which Richter has given his Queen Louise on the stairway,
  • # To pass (something) into (someone's) hand or the like.
  • # To cause (a disease or condition) in, or to transmit (a disease or condition) to.
  • #* 1699 , , Heads designed for an essay on conversations
  • Study gives' strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to '''give''' stiffness, the other suppleness: one ' gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.
  • (may take two objects) To estimate or predict (a duration or probability) for (something).
  • To yield slightly when a force is applied.
  • *
  • To collapse under pressure or force.
  • To provide, as, a service or a broadcast.
  • * 2003 , Iain Aitken, Value-Driven IT Management: Commercializing the IT Function , page 153
  • who did not have a culture in which 'giving good presentation' and successfully playing the internal political game was the way up.
  • * 2006 , Christopher Matthew Spencer The Ebay Entrepreneur , page 248
  • A friendly voice on the phone welcoming prospective new clients is a must. Don't underestimate the importance of giving good "phone".
  • To lead (onto or into).
  • To exhibit as a product or result; to produce; to yield.
  • The number of men, divided by the number of ships, gives four hundred to each ship.
  • To cause; to make; used with the infinitive.
  • * Shakespeare
  • But there the duke was given to understand / That in a gondola were seen together / Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica.
  • To allow or admit by way of supposition.
  • * Milton
  • I give not heaven for lost.
  • To attribute; to assign; to adjudge.
  • * Sheridan
  • I don't wonder at people's giving him to me as a lover.
  • To communicate or announce (advice, tidings, etc.); to pronounce or utter (an opinion, a judgment, a shout, etc.).
  • (dated) To grant power or permission to; to allow.
  • * Rowe
  • It is given me once again to behold my friend.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • Then give thy friend to shed the sacred wine.
  • (reflexive) To devote or apply (oneself).
  • The soldiers give themselves to plunder.
    That boy is given to fits of bad temper.
  • To become soft or moist.
  • (Francis Bacon)
  • To shed tears; to weep.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Whose eyes do never give / But through lust and laughter.
  • To have a misgiving.
  • * J. Webster
  • My mind gives ye're reserved / To rob poor market women.
  • To be going on, to be occurring
  • Synonyms

    * (transfer possession of) donate, pass, transfer * (bend slightly when a force is applied) bend, cede, flex, move, yield * (estimate or predict) estimate, guess, predict * (provide)

    Antonyms

    * (transfer possession of) get, obtain, receive, take * (bend slightly when a force is applied) not bend/cede/flex/give/move/yield, resist

    Derived terms

    See also'' given''', '''giver''' ''and'' ' giving * forgive * * give and take * give away * give away the store * give back * give birth * give forth * give head * give in * give it one's all * give it one's best shot * give it up for * given * give off * give one's all * give one's daughter away * give on to * give or take * give out * give over * give pause * give someone a break * give someone a chance * give someone a kiss * give someone grief * give someone the business * give someone the time of day * give something a miss * give something a shot * give something a try * give thanks * give to understand * give up * give way * it is better to give than to receive * something's got to give * what gives? * you only get what you give

    Noun

    (-)
  • (uncountable) The amount of bending that something undergoes when a force is applied to it.
  • This chair doesn't have much give .