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Re: THEORY: third-person imperatives

From:Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...>
Date:Tuesday, April 27, 1999, 4:33
"Raymond A. Brown" wrote:
> Unfortunately, however, 'let' can still be used with the meaning of > 'permit' and there must, I suspect, still be the odd occasion when, e.g. a > translator into French must decide whether "let us go!" is 'Laissez-nous > partir!' or simply 'Partons!'
Indeed, that's the distinction between "let us" and "let's" in spoken English. Let us go = Permit us to go; Let's go = 1st person plural imperative. In fact, the only time I've ever heard "let us" used for the "imperative" sense is in certain formal registers like church language. -- "It's bad manners to talk about ropes in the house of a man whose father was hanged." - Irish proverb http://members.tripod.com/~Nik_Taylor/X-Files http://members.tripod.com/~Nik_Taylor/Books.html ICQ: 18656696 AIM Screen-name: NikTailor