lassen

das Verb lassen

lassen is a versatile German verb meaning “to leave”, “to let” and “to have something done”, and with sich it means “can be done”.

In German, lassen does three main jobs: leaving something where it is, having someone else do a job for you, and saying that something “can be done” (a passive-like meaning).

Contents

Right now: the three jobs of lassen

Shortcut1. Leave: as a main verb (I left the car at home) or “let” (Sie lässt das Kind spielen). 2. Have done: like a modal verb (I had the car repaired). 3. Can be done: with sich lassen (this car can be repaired).

Ich lasse mein Auto zu Hause.

I’m leaving my car at home.

Ich lasse mein Auto reparieren.

I’m having my car repaired.

Das Auto lässt sich reparieren.

The car can be repaired.

You already do this in English

In English you say “I had my hair cut”, “I got the car repaired”, “I had the flat cleaned”. German uses lassen + infinitive for exactly this. When the action is done on your own body or for your own benefit, a dative pronoun (mir, dir, sich) slips in.

I do it myself	Someone else does it (lassen)
Ich schneide mir die Haare.	Ich lasse mir die Haare schneiden.
Ich repariere das Auto.	Ich lasse das Auto reparieren.
Ich putze die Wohnung.	Ich lasse die Wohnung putzen.

In the sentence, lassen behaves like a modal verb: it sits in second place and the real action (the infinitive) goes to the very end.

Table: sich lassen as a way around the passive

In everyday German, the pattern sich lassen is used far more often than können + passive. It means “can be …-ed / it is possible to …”.

Modal verb + passive	sich lassen	Meaning
Das kann gemacht werden.	Das lässt sich machen.	That can be done / sorted out.
Der Text kann gelesen werden.	Der Text lässt sich leicht lesen.	The text is easy to read.
Das Problem kann gelöst werden.	Das Problem lässt sich lösen.	The problem can be solved.

In this pattern you always use sich (accusative).

Trap: saying gelassen in the past

Trap

Using the wrong past participle in the Perfekt

If lassen stands alone (meaning “leave”), the past is hat … gelassen. But if it is used together with another verb, you never say “gelassen” in the past; you always use the infinitive “lassen”.

Ich habe mein Auto reparieren gelassen.

Wrong. With a second verb, gelassen is not allowed.

Ich habe mein Auto reparieren lassen.

Correct.

Ich habe meine Tasche zu Hause gelassen.

Correct (only one verb here, meaning “leave”).

Practice now

What you just learned

Das Fenster lässt ___ nicht öffnen.
Show the answer
sich — The “cannot be done” meaning is built with “sich lassen”.
Ich habe das Buch auf dem Tisch gelassen. — this sentence is grammatically correct.
Show the answer
True — Correct. There is no other action here; there is only one verb, meaning “leave”. So using “gelassen” is perfectly fine.
Ich ___ morgen mein Auto reparieren.
Show the answer
You use lassen to have someone else do a job.

The part nobody tells you: Ich lasse dich in Ruhe

Some lassen phrases are so firmly rooted in everyday German that you should memorise them as whole chunks, not word by word. For example Lass mich in Ruhe! (Leave me alone!), Lass uns gehen! (Let’s go!) or Das kann sich sehen lassen (That’s not bad / that’s pretty good).

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Tap the words and put them in order. This is the hardest part of German — and there are no options to pick from, you build it.

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Tips

Know this before the test

The core of the topic in three lines, then the mistakes people make most often.

Two verbs? Use “lassen” in the Perfekt
When lassen is used with another verb, like a modal verb, the Perfekt uses the infinitive “lassen”, not “gelassen”.
Er hat sich die Haare schneiden lassen.

Das lässt machen.
Das lässt sich machen.
In the “can be done” pattern, sich is always required.

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Test yourself

Tap an answer — we will look at why together.

Ich morgen mein Auto reparieren.

I’m having my car repaired tomorrow.

You use lassen to have someone else do a job.

Er hat den Text übersetzen .

He had the text translated.

There is a main verb in the infinitive (übersetzen), so the Perfekt uses lassen, not gelassen.

Ich habe meinen Schirm im Zug .

I left my umbrella on the train.

Here lassen is the only verb (meaning “leave”), so it becomes gelassen.

Das sich nicht leicht erklären.

That can’t be explained easily.

lässt — lassen is irregular: in the 3rd person singular the stem vowel changes (a → ä). sich lassen + infinitive gives the meaning “can be …-ed”: “that can’t be explained easily”.

Wir uns Pizza liefern.

We’re having pizza delivered.

lassen — with wir the verb looks just like the infinitive. Here lassen means “have done”: we don’t bring the pizza, we have it brought.

Hast du dir die Haare schneiden ?

Did you get your hair cut?

lassen — when a second infinitive is present (schneiden), lassen does not become gelassen in the Perfekt; it stays an infinitive. This is called the double infinitive (Ersatzinfinitiv).

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Worksheet

lassen worksheet

This whole page — tables, traps, examples — as one PDF. Download it, print it, run through it before the exam.

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