lassen

lassen

1. third-person plural present indicative of lassar

From Middle Dutch lasschen (“to join together”). Further etymology is unclear, but probably borrowed from Old French lacer (“to tie”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɑ.sə(n)/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑsən

lassen

1. to weld

• Afrikaans: las
• Berbice Creole Dutch: lasi
• Negerhollands: las
• → Aukan: lasi
• → Papiamentu: las, lasch
• → Sranan Tongo: las
  • → Caribbean Javanese: ngelas

• laßen (obsolete)

From Middle High German lāzen, from Old High German lāzan, from Proto-West Germanic *lātan (“to let, allow”), from Proto-Germanic *lētaną (“to leave behind, allow”), from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁d- (“to let, leave behind”). Cognates include Bavarian låssn, Dutch laten, English let.

• IPA^(key): [ˈlasn̩], [ˈlasən]

• Audio (Germany):

  (file)

• Audio (Austria):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: las‧sen

lassen (class 7 strong, third-person singular present lässt, past tense ließ, past participle gelassen or (with an infinitive) lassen, auxiliary haben)

1. (transitive, with an infinitive, past participle: “lassen”) to allow; to permit; to let

   lasset alle Hoffnung fahren ― abandon all hope

2. (auxiliary, causative, 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?

   Ich ließ den Nachbarn die Blumen gießen. (active) - Ich ließ die Blumen (vom Nachbarn) gießen. (passive)

   I made the neighbor water the flowers. - I had the flowers watered (by the neighbor).

3. (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.

4. (transitive, past participle: “gelassen”) to stop (something); to quit; to refrain from; to help doing (something)
5. (intransitive, past participle: “gelassen”) to cease; to desist

• 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.

Some forms are missing in the above table, e.g.

• imperative plural: lasset

Traditionally ß is used in several places, e.g.:

• läßt instead of lässt
• laßt instead of lasst

• lasch
• lässig

• “lassen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “lassen” in Duden online
• “lassen” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.
• “lassen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “lassen” in OpenThesaurus.de

lassen

1. inflection of lass:
   1. strong/weak nominative/accusative masculine singular
   2. weak dative masculine/neuter singular
   3. strong/weak dative plural

lassen

1. definite plural of lass