Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

let's

/lɛts/

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.16 in modern English

Syllables: let's
IPA: /lɛts/

4

Scrabble Score

4

Letters

1

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

Used to form the cohortative of verbs, equivalent of the first-person plural imperative in some other languages.

verb

Used to form the hortative of verbs, equivalent of the second-person plural imperative in some other languages, chiefly instructional

Example Sentences

"Let’s eat lunch sometime, shall we?"
"I say let’s dance."
"Let's buy a bottle of champagne if Mom comes, we’ll wait and see."
"Let's go for a walk, shall we? -Sure, let’s."
"Let’s get coffee!"
"Let’s make sure we don’t forget proper punctuation, let's not let those mistakes happen again."

Etymology

Contraction of let us. Compare non-contracted Dutch laat ons, German lass uns (speaker with one other person) / lasst uns (speaker with more other persons) and Swedish låt oss.

Inflected Forms

let’s (canonical) let us (alternative) le'ss (alternative, pronunciation spelling)

Phrases

let's be having you let's dance let's face it let's get the party started let's get this circus on the road let's get this party started let's go let's have it

Homonyms

lets

Rhymes With

gets sets lets threats cigarettes jets pets debts bets nets regrets mets

Questions

How do you pronounce let's?: The recorded pronunciation is /lɛts/.
What does let's mean?: Used to form the cohortative of verbs, equivalent of the first-person plural imperative in some other languages.
Where does let's come from?: Contraction of let us. Compare non-contracted Dutch laat ons, German lass uns (speaker with one other person) / lasst uns (speaker with more other persons) and Swedish låt oss.

How to pronounce let's

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “let's”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/lɛts/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “let's”.
Repeat and practice — Say “let's” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.