Verb + Object: Ask Me To, Let Me, Make Me
By the end: I can describe requests, instructions, permission and pressure with the right object-and-verb pattern.
Try the activities, then check your answers.
Try the activities, then check your answers.
Choose a short recording.
Before you start
Think of a time someone asked you to help. Was it a request, permission or a requirement?
Useful background: Object pronouns; to-infinitives; basic present and past forms.
Ask, tell and want
Put the person receiving the request or instruction after the first verb. Then use to plus the next verb. Use an object pronoun: me, him, her, us or them.
She asked me to wait.
We told them to use the side door.
Let and make
In these active patterns, let and make take an object followed by the base verb without to. Let commonly expresses permission; make can express pressure or something causing a reaction.
They let us leave early.
The noise made me jump.
Make can describe an unplanned reaction
It did not give a spoken instruction.
After active made + object, use the base form jump without to.
Help and negative instructions
Help can take either object + base verb or object + to-infinitive. With ask or tell, put not before to to give a negative instruction. Choose the first verb according to the meaning, not just the pattern.
Leo helped me carry the boxes.
She asked us not to interrupt.
Guided practice
Say or write your answer first. Compare the meaning and form; the model is one possible answer.
1. Complete: They asked ___ to wait. Refer to yourself.
Compare a model and explanation
me
The receiver is an object, so use me.
2. Complete: She told us ___ the next bus. Use take.
Compare a model and explanation
to take
Tell + object is followed by a to-infinitive.
3. Correct: The manager let me to leave.
Compare a model and explanation
The manager let me leave.
Active let does not take to before the second verb.
4. Complete: The film made us ___. Use laugh.
Compare a model and explanation
laugh
Active make takes a base verb after the object.
5. Give both standard forms: He helped me ___ the table. Use move.
Compare a model and explanation
move / to move
Help allows either form in this use.
6. Report a negative instruction: Don’t touch the screen, she told us.
Compare a model and explanation
She told us not to touch the screen.
Put not before to in the reported instruction.
7. Explain the difference: They let me stay. / They made me stay.
Compare a model and explanation
The first gives permission; the second describes pressure or a requirement imposed on me.
The two patterns have similar form but different meanings.
8. A colleague requested help, permitted a break and warned you not to close a file. Report using ask, let and tell.
Compare a model and explanation
She asked me to help, let me take a break and told me not to close the file.
Keep the three complement patterns distinct.
A short conversation
Listen first if you can, then open the transcript when useful.
Open the conversation transcript
A: Did the organiser ask you to arrive early?
B: Yes. She wanted me to help set up the chairs.
A: Did she make you stay after the event too?
B: No, she let me leave as soon as my group finished.
Listening checks
Listen to each extract or open its transcript. These three questions have their own score.
Mastery quiz
Choose the best answer in each situation. Your score is out of eight.
Use it in your own words
Speaking task 1
Describe a fictional group project using asked, told and let.
Reveal a possible response
Our tutor asked us to choose a topic. She told us to keep the presentation short, but she let us use photographs and notes.
Success check: Match the complement form to each first verb.
Speaking task 2
Explain a time when something caused a reaction, then describe someone helping you.
Reveal a possible response
A sudden sound made me drop a box. My friend helped me pick everything up, and we checked that nothing was broken.
Success check: Use active make without to; accept either form after help.
Speaking task 3
Role-play a tutor and learner arranging a task. Then report the exchange from the learner’s perspective.
Reveal a possible response
The tutor asked me to read the first paragraph and told me not to look up every word. She let me ask two questions before I explained the main idea.
Success check: Preserve whether each original message was a request, instruction or permission.
Take it with you
I can describe requests, instructions, permission and pressure with the right object-and-verb pattern.