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Could anyone tell me the meaning of the word 让 (ràng) in sentences like this one: 爸爸让我学开车.

I am not sure of the exact meaning; is it to wish?

I've looked it up on a dictionary but I couldn't figure out the exact meaning.

Thank you very much.

Clara

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  • 让 means 'allow' or 'let' here – Tang Ho♦ Mar 14 '17 at 23:54
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The sentence '爸爸让我学开车' is too short to be certain which meaning of 让 should be assigned here.

  • '我恳求了很多次爸爸才让我学开车.' - 'I pleaded with my father many times before he allowed me to learn to drive.' (让 = allow/let)
  • '父亲认为驾驶是一种有用的技能，因此他让我学开车.' - 'Father thinks driving is a useful skill, so he lets me learn to drive.' (让 = let/ allow)

Consider learning to drive cost money, and often require permission from the parent, "LET" is the most likely meaning of '让' here.

*ongusbongus' answer suggested '让' means 'ask to'. But in reality, '要' is the more common word for the meaning of 'ask to' compare to '让'.

Even '叫' carring the meaning of 'ask to' better than '让'

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  • In Northern dialects, 让 is slightly more frequently used than 要 and 叫 in the sense of "ask", while all of them are common. – NS.X. Mar 15 '17 at 3:58
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让 in this context means "ask", as in , "Daddy asked me to learn to drive".

I found it surprising that most online dictionaries didn't list this definition, when this usage is very common. I did find it in an extended definition list here: http://www.zdic.net/z/24/xs/8BA9.htm

(13) 要求 [ask]。如:是他让我来的;她妈妈让她每天练钢琴八个小时

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  • It certainly could mean "ask (me) to" (I'd probably translate that sense here as "want (me) to", but I think there's too little in the OP to make a definitive declaration of that. Absent further context, I'd say "let" or "allow" is at least as likely. – Brian Tung Mar 20 '17 at 21:44
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你可以理解为“let”，和英文里差不多的，翻译成英文就是（My）father let me learn deriveing

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In this context, "让" means "to ask" or "require"

爸爸让我学开车 means "My dad ask me to learn how to drive"

There are other examples:

老师让他不要再迟到了。“The teacher ask him do not be late again”.

Learn more Chinese grammar on this video channel： http://www.hanbridgemandarin.com/course/demo/hsk_grammar

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让 could mean 'let' or 'ask'.
I wonder if we can learn from each other? I learn english from you and you chinese from me?

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  • OK. How do you want to do it? – Clara Fonseca Mar 16 '17 at 15:01
  • I wouldn't mind. That would be very useful for me. – Clara Fonseca Mar 16 '17 at 15:03
  • anytime. Do you have a facebook？ my account is JN Lai – Jingnan Lai Mar 16 '17 at 15:07
  • or Wechat? GDjingnan is my wechat account – Jingnan Lai Mar 16 '17 at 15:09
  • hi? have you seen the message? – Jingnan Lai Mar 16 '17 at 15:25

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