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Grammar and Linguistics > First Person Plural, Negative Imperatives
First Person Plural, Negative Imperatives
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Gi2gi
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First Person Plural, Negative Imperatives
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I have been bumping into sentences in some (text)books with Don �t let �s starting a negative imperative sentence. E.g. Don �t let �s waste time. Don’t let’s talk. To be honest, it sounds a bit awkward to me as I would generally say: Let �s not waste time. Let’s not talk. But anyway, when and if a student comes across such a form (Don’t let’s), what should my comment be? Is Don �t let �s an uncommon/dialectic way of saying Let �s not? Or is it just bad grammar? Or is it something else? :) Thank you |
2 Oct 2015
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loboclaud
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Well, I am not a native speaker but I have never seen that structure before. In my opinion it is incorrect but maybe some of the native speakers here can help you. |
2 Oct 2015
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maryse pey�
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I was taught with such a structure when I was a very young student and, since my very 1st lesson, have always seen and heard such a construction as a very natural one.
Don �t let us go to the cinema ! We will be back too late and we have to leave very early tomorrow morning ! |
2 Oct 2015
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almaz
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It �s a common enough informal usage in the UK. Michael Swan: "There are two possible negatives [of let us], with let us not and do not let us (informal: let �s not and don �t let �s)" And from Merriam-Webster �s Dictionary of English Usage: "The negative of let �s is formed in three ways: let �s not, which is widely used; don �t let �s, which is chiefly found in British English; and let �s don �t, which is an Americanism." Oh, and there was this rather jingoistically triumphalist song � banned by the BBC, incidentally � written by the ineffably elegant No�l Coward:
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2 Oct 2015
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Gi2gi
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" let �s not, which is widely used; don �t let �s, which is chiefly found in British English; and let �s don �t, which is an Americanism" A useful piece of information! Thanks everyone for the comments. EDIT:
Maryse, so, after all, Don�t let�s seems to be a British usage. I wonder if our American friends would corroborate.
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2 Oct 2015
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cunliffe
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In case of any confusion, it may be that �don �t let �s � is chiefly found in British English, but that means as opposed to in American English. �Let �s not � is much more widely used. Actually, I thought �Don �t let �s � was an American Englishism. |
2 Oct 2015
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loboclaud
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Thanks everyone for enlightening us on this structure. I had never heard it before so it is nice to know that it is correct and it is British English. |
2 Oct 2015
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MoodyMoody
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As a speaker of American English, I have never heard "Don �t let �s" at all. "Let �s not" is by far the most common in American English, although I have heard "Let �s don �t and say we did" before. I �m from the South, though; "let �s don �t" might be more common in other American English dialects. |
2 Oct 2015
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Gi2gi
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Thanks,Lynne and MoodyMoody for further clarifications. |
3 Oct 2015
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Tapioca
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The Philadelphia Story (1940)
MARY NASH:
Well, we both might face the fact that neither of us has proved to be a very great success as a wife.
KATHERINE HEPBURN:
We just picked the wrong first husbands, that �s all.
MARY NASH:
Well, don �t let �s argue about it. You wanted me to take a stand and I �ve taken it. This is an American movie, but I have a feeling it �s not an issue of which side of the Atlantic you �re on but perhaps when you were born or perhaps your social status? |
3 Oct 2015
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Tapioca
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Google Books � Ngram Viewer can be useful for things like this. It checks a large corpus of English to tell you how often a word or phrase has been used compared with another word or phrase and plots that over time. It wouldn �t allow a search for "Don �t let �s" but substituted "do not let �s". Still, the results are interesting and if you didn �t know about it before, you �ll have lots of fun trying different combinations of words, names and phrases. |
3 Oct 2015
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