Let him go/ goes

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Let him go/ goes
Message from mohammad51 posted on 23-11-2017 at 15:25:43 (D | E | F)
Hello
let him go and not goes ....why?
We have learned this matter of grammar that Let is followed by an infinitive without to.
Let + object pronoun+ infinitive without to
examples:
let me go not to go
Let her go not to go or goes
Let him go .....not to go or goes.
My question: go and not goes, is it like the subjunctive mode or what?
Or:
Is a pattern like this considered as a subjunctive mode?

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Edited by lucile83 on 23-11-2017 15:37

Re: Let him go/ goes from gerondif, posted on 23-11-2017 at 16:30:00 (D | E)
Hello,
Let is almost an auxiliary verb like can, may, must, shall, should, will, do, does, did. It is followed by the infinitive without the to:
It is used either for the imperative:
Come ! don't come !
Let's go ! Let's not go !
Let him be hanged !
Let them be expelled !

Or it is used when you allow somebody to do something or ask permission to do something:
Let me play, will you ?
Don't let him play with your bike.
I didn't let him touch your computer.
I let her play with us last night.

I said "almost an auxiliary verb" because it is conjugated like a regular verb (s in the present tense, do, does , did, will, would, should, etc... as auxiliaries)
He usually lets me use his car.
I wouldn't let you play with this loaded gun.
He has never let me see his wife.

The verb dare is a little like this:
It can be either regular:
He dares to come here after what he said about you.
He dared to come. He didn't dare to come.

Or defective:
How dare you say this ?
I daren't come ! He daren't come. (But only in the present tense, and the present form is sometimes used as a past tense with a past tense, as there is no past form for "daren't" or "dare" as a defective verb : He said he daren't come )

Or a mixture of the two:
He didn't dare come.

Re: Let him go/ goes from mohammad51, posted on 24-11-2017 at 07:53:52 (D | E)
Hello,
Good point you referred to gerondif,

We can say it is a score of great success on language. This point indeed, was absent to my mind.
Yes " let" acts as auxiliary even it is never mentioned by grammarians.
I read at least 200 grammar books written by different authors across the world , none of them referred to this point.
This can be considered to you gerondif.
Good luck

Re: Let him go/ goes from gerondif, posted on 24-11-2017 at 14:49:08 (D | E)
Hello,
I think I had learnt it in "Grammaire anglaise de l'étudiant", by Berland Delépine(Ophrys) in the 1970's, the grammar-book that was advised to sit for our C.A.P.E.S, our teachers' competitive exam, and it was no secret or obscure point.

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