Laten Constructions in Dutch

In Brief

Dutch laten + infinitive can mean “let someone do,” “make someone do,” or “have something done”: Ik laat de kinderen spelen and Ik laat mijn fiets repareren. In a perfect tense, laten remains an infinitive: Ik heb mijn fiets laten repareren. The fixed pattern laten we + infinitive makes a suggestion: Laten we beginnen (“Let’s begin”).

Overview

Laten is a common irregular verb whose basic meaning is “to let” or “to leave.” Combined with another verb in the infinitive (the unchanged dictionary form, such as werken or repareren), it forms several closely related constructions. It can express permission, direct or indirect causation, or an arrangement for somebody else to perform a service. English divides these meanings among let, make, and have/get something done; Dutch often uses the same verb.

This is a B2 topic because choosing the intended meaning depends on context and because the construction affects word order, objects, and perfect-tense verb clusters. The basic pattern itself is easy to recognise, however, and appears constantly in everyday Dutch: at the hairdresser’s, when arranging repairs, when giving someone freedom to act, and when suggesting a shared plan.

The person or thing that initiates the situation is the grammatical subject (who controls the main verb). Another person may perform the infinitive’s action, while a thing may undergo that action. Keeping those roles separate is the key to understanding sentences with laten.

How It Works

Forms of laten

Laten is irregular in the simple past. In ordinary perfect constructions with another infinitive, its past participle gelaten is replaced by the infinitive laten.

Tense or form	Singular	Plural	Example
Present	ik laat; jij/u/hij/zij laat	wij/jullie/zij laten	Zij laat hem binnen.
Simple past	ik/jij/u/hij/zij liet	wij/jullie/zij lieten	We lieten de kinderen kiezen.
Infinitive	laten	—	Je moet hem laten uitpraten.
Past participle when used alone	gelaten	—	Ik heb het daarbij gelaten.

The normal present-tense question and inversion patterns still apply: Laat jij hem gaan? and Morgen laat ik mijn haar knippen.

1. Allowing someone to act

The pattern is:

subject + finite form of laten + person + infinitive

In Zij laat de kinderen spelen, zij gives permission, de kinderen perform the action, and spelen names that action. English normally uses let or allow. Dutch does not add a word equivalent to English to before the infinitive.

• Laat me even nadenken. — Let me think for a moment.
• De docent liet ons eerder vertrekken. — The teacher let us leave earlier.

A separable verb remains together as an infinitive in this construction: Laat hem eerst uitpraten (“Let him finish speaking”). It is uitpraten, not the split finite form praat ... uit.

2. Causing or making someone act

The same structure can mean that the subject causes, orders, or pressures another person to do something:

• De coach liet de spelers nog tien minuten rennen. — The coach made the players run for another ten minutes.
• Het nieuws liet iedereen schrikken. — The news made everyone startle.

There is no grammatical marker that automatically separates permission from compulsion. Context, the subject, and the infinitive establish the reading. De moeder liet haar zoon naar buiten gaan will usually suggest permission; De officier liet de soldaten wachten can suggest an order.

English speakers should therefore not match laten mechanically with let. Depending on the situation, make, cause, or have someone do may be more natural.

3. Arranging for a service: “have something done”

When the subject arranges for another person to perform an action on an object, Dutch commonly uses:

subject + laten + thing affected + infinitive

• Ik laat mijn haar knippen. — I’m having my hair cut.
• We laten de keuken verbouwen. — We’re having the kitchen renovated.

The person performing the service is often omitted because it is unknown, obvious, or unimportant. Ik laat mijn auto repareren normally means that a mechanic repairs it, not that the speaker repairs it personally. This construction is more natural than a literal attempt to copy English have/get + past participle: Dutch uses an infinitive, repareren, not a participle such as gerepareerd.

If the agent matters, it can often be expressed with door:

• Ik laat de brief door een jurist controleren. — I’m having the letter checked by a lawyer.

In ordinary conversation, naming the provider separately may sound clearer: Ik laat mijn fiets bij de fietsenmaker repareren.

4. Word order in main and subordinate clauses

In a main clause, the finite form of laten occupies the normal finite-verb position. The other infinitive usually comes later:

• Ik laat morgen mijn ogen controleren.
• Morgen laat ik mijn ogen controleren.

In a subordinate clause (a clause introduced by a word such as omdat or dat), the verb group comes at the end:

• ... omdat ik morgen mijn ogen laat controleren.
• Ze zegt dat ze de kinderen buiten laat spelen.

With a modal verb such as moeten, both laten and the lexical verb remain infinitives at the end: Je moet hem laten uitpraten. In a subordinate clause: Ik vind dat je hem moet laten uitpraten.

5. Perfect tenses and the double infinitive

When laten governs another infinitive, Dutch normally uses the double infinitive (two infinitives together) after hebben. This is also called the infinitive-for-participle construction: an infinitive appears where a past participle might otherwise be expected.

subject + hebben + object(s) + laten + infinitive

• Hij heeft zijn auto laten wassen.
• We hebben de kinderen buiten laten spelen.
• Ik had de documenten laten vertalen.

Do not use gelaten here: heeft laten wassen, not heeft gelaten wassen. The participle gelaten is possible when laten is used without a dependent infinitive, as in Ik heb de sleutel thuis gelaten (“I left the key at home”) or We hebben het zo gelaten (“We left it that way”).

The usual cluster is laten + lexical infinitive: heeft laten repareren. In subordinate clauses, the auxiliary joins the final verb cluster: ... omdat hij zijn auto heeft laten wassen. You may encounter some variation in verb-cluster order in Dutch generally, but laten + final infinitive is the safest productive order for this construction.

6. Suggestions with laten we

Laten we + infinitive corresponds to English let’s + verb and proposes an action involving the speaker and others:

• Laten we beginnen. — Let’s begin.
• Laten we er morgen verder over praten. — Let’s discuss it further tomorrow.

Despite its shape, learn laten we as a fixed suggestion pattern. The negative is usually Laten we niet ...: Laten we niet te snel beslissen. To invite agreement, speakers can add zullen we?: Laten we een taxi nemen, zullen we?

Examples in Context

Dutch	English	Note
Zij laat de kinderen spelen.	She lets the children play.	Permission
Laat hem met rust.	Leave him alone.	Fixed everyday use of laten
Laat me eerst uitleggen wat er gebeurd is.	Let me first explain what happened.	Request for permission or attention
De docent liet ons een woordenboek gebruiken.	The teacher allowed us to use a dictionary.	Permission in the simple past
De trainer liet het team opnieuw beginnen.	The coach made the team start again.	Causation or instruction
Die film liet me anders naar de kwestie kijken.	That film made me look at the issue differently.	An event causes a change
Ik laat mijn haar morgen knippen.	I’m having my hair cut tomorrow.	Arranged service
We laten het contract door een advocaat controleren.	We’re having the contract checked by a lawyer.	The provider is named with door
Waar laat jij je fiets repareren?	Where do you have your bicycle repaired?	Asking about a service provider
Hij heeft zijn auto laten wassen.	He had his car washed.	Perfect tense with double infinitive
Ze had de kinderen nog even buiten laten spelen.	She had let the children play outside a little longer.	Past perfect; permission
Ik wist niet dat je de muur had laten schilderen.	I didn’t know that you had had the wall painted.	Final verb cluster in a subordinate clause
Je moet haar zelf laten kiezen.	You must let her choose for herself.	Modal + laten + infinitive
Laten we na de lunch verdergaan.	Let’s continue after lunch.	Shared suggestion
Laten we niets overhaast doen.	Let’s not do anything rash.	Negative suggestion with niets

Common Mistakes

Using a past participle for the service

• Wrong: Ik laat mijn fiets gerepareerd.
• Right: Ik laat mijn fiets repareren.
• Why: After laten, Dutch uses the infinitive repareren. English “have something repaired” does not map word for word onto the Dutch structure.

Using gelaten in the double-infinitive construction

• Wrong: Hij heeft zijn auto gelaten wassen.
• Right: Hij heeft zijn auto laten wassen.
• Why: With another infinitive, perfect-tense laten also appears as an infinitive. Gelaten is used when laten stands alone: Hij heeft zijn auto thuis gelaten.

Adding te before the second verb

• Wrong: Ze laat de kinderen te spelen.
• Right: Ze laat de kinderen spelen.
• Why: Laten takes a bare infinitive, meaning an infinitive without te.

Splitting a separable infinitive

• Wrong: Laat hem praat uit.
• Right: Laat hem uitpraten.
• Why: A separable verb such as uitpraten stays joined when it is an infinitive after laten.

Assuming laten always means permission

• Misleading: translating De baas liet ons overwerken as “The boss allowed us to work overtime.”
• Better in the likely context: “The boss made us work overtime.”
• Why: The grammar leaves the force open. Use the surrounding situation to decide whether the person is allowed, instructed, or compelled to act.

Copying English word order into a subordinate clause

• Wrong: ... omdat ik laat mijn laptop repareren.
• Right: ... omdat ik mijn laptop laat repareren.
• Why: In a Dutch subordinate clause, the verb group comes at the end.

Usage Notes

Laten is neutral and extremely frequent in both speech and writing. The service construction is the ordinary way to talk about haircuts, repairs, checks, translations, deliveries, and other work arranged for you. The context usually makes the unnamed provider obvious.

Permission and causation can overlap. If precision matters, Dutch offers alternatives. Toestaan dat ... explicitly means “permit that ...,” while dwingen om ... te ... explicitly means “force someone to ...”. Ervoor zorgen dat ... (“ensure/cause that ...”) can describe indirect causation without suggesting force. These longer choices are useful in formal writing when laten might be ambiguous.

The imperative laat occurs in many frequent expressions. Laat maar can mean “never mind,” “leave it,” or “don’t bother,” depending on tone. Laat eens zien means “let me see/show me,” and laat weten means “let [someone] know”: Laat me weten wanneer je aankomt. These uses belong to the same broad idea of allowing or causing, but they are best learned as complete phrases.

Be careful with verlaten, a different verb meaning “to leave” or “abandon”: Hij verlaat het gebouw. It is not a laten + infinitive construction.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Zich laten + infinitive

A reflexive pronoun (me, je, zich, ons—a word referring back to the subject) creates several useful meanings. It may describe arranging something for oneself:

• Zij laat zich elk jaar medisch onderzoeken. — She has a medical examination every year.

It can also mean allowing oneself to be affected, often with a warning or evaluation:

• Laat je niet misleiden. — Don’t let yourself be misled.
• Hij liet zich gemakkelijk overtuigen. — He let himself be persuaded easily.

With some verbs, zich laten + infinitive expresses possibility in a passive-like way:

• Dit probleem laat zich eenvoudig oplossen. — This problem can be solved easily.
• De deur laat zich niet openen. — The door cannot be opened.

This style is especially common in informative or formal prose. It focuses on whether something is feasible rather than on who performs the action.

Leaving, omission, and stopping

Not every occurrence of laten introduces a causative construction. As an independent verb, it can mean leaving something in a place or condition:

• Laat de deur open. — Leave the door open.
• Ik heb mijn telefoon thuis gelaten. — I left my phone at home.

The pattern iets laten can also mean refraining from something: Ik kan het roken niet laten (“I can’t give up smoking”) and Laat dat! (“Stop that!”). Here there is no second infinitive governed by laten, so the perfect form may be gelaten.

Meaning depends on participant roles

Sentences become harder when both a person and a thing follow laten. Compare:

• Ik laat de kapper mijn haar knippen. — I have the hairdresser cut my hair.
• Ik laat mijn haar knippen. — I have my hair cut.

In the first, de kapper performs knippen and mijn haar undergoes it. In the second, the performer is omitted. When a sentence could be read in more than one way, Dutch speakers often choose a clearer order, name the provider with bij or door, or rewrite the sentence.

Practice Tips

1. Label the roles. For each sentence, identify who arranges or permits the action, who performs it, and what receives it. Try this with Ik laat de monteur mijn auto controleren before translating.
2. Transform across tenses. Build sets such as Ik laat mijn fiets repareren → Ik liet mijn fiets repareren → Ik heb mijn fiets laten repareren. This makes the irregular past and double infinitive automatic.
3. Collect whole phrases. Practise useful frames aloud: Laat me even ..., Waar laat je ...?, Laten we ..., and Laat je niet .... Replace only the final verb or object to create realistic new sentences.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Double Infinitive — explains why perfect constructions use heeft laten repareren rather than a past participle.