laat packs three English verbs into one. Depending on context it means let (permit), make (cause/compel), or have something done — laat my dink (let me think / makes me think), sy laat hom wag (she makes him wait), ek laat my hare sny (I have my hair cut). It always takes a bare infinitive — no om te — and in the perfect it joins the famous double-infinitive construction: sy het my laat wag, never gelaat. This page covers the forms and senses; the grammar of the causative — its word order, agents and subtleties — lives on causative laat.
Core forms
laat is regular in its present and future, but its perfect is special: it has no participle. Instead of gelaat, the bare infinitive laat appears in the perfect (the double-infinitive pattern below).
| Form | Afrikaans | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | laat | to let / make / have |
| Present (all persons) | ek / jy / hy / ons / hulle laat | I / you / he / we / they let |
| Perfect | het … laat (+ infinitive) | let / made / had |
| Future | sal laat | will let |
| Imperative | Laat! | Let! / Allow! |
Laat my net gou klaar eet.
Just let me finish eating quickly.
Sy het my 'n hele uur laat wag.
She made me wait a whole hour.
Ek sal jou laat weet sodra ek hoor.
I'll let you know as soon as I hear.
laat + bare infinitive: the basic pattern
The defining feature of laat is that it takes a bare infinitive with no om te. The second verb follows in its plain form: laat my dink (let me think), laat hom slaap (let him sleep), laat dit val (drop it / let it fall). This is the single biggest difference from English speakers' instinct, because English inserts "to" in some of these patterns.
Laat my dink — ek is nie seker nie.
Let me think — I'm not sure.
Moenie die kind so laat huil nie.
Don't make the child cry like that.
Laat ons begin, ons is laat.
Let's begin, we're late.
Die musiek het my aan my kinderdae laat dink.
The music made me think of my childhood.
The three senses: let, make, have-done
One verb, three readings — and context decides which. English uses three different verbs; Afrikaans uses laat for all of them.
| Sense | Afrikaans | English |
|---|---|---|
| let / permit | Laat hom maar speel. | Just let him play. |
| make / cause | Jy laat my lag. | You make me laugh. |
| have done | Ek laat my motor regmaak. | I'm having my car fixed. |
Laat hom maar speel, hy doen niemand kwaad nie.
Just let him play, he's not hurting anyone.
Jou stories laat my altyd lag.
Your stories always make me laugh.
Ons laat volgende week 'n nuwe dak opsit.
We're having a new roof put on next week.
The double-infinitive perfect
In the perfect, laat refuses to become a participle. Instead the auxiliary het is followed by two infinitives at the end of the clause: het … laat + infinitive. So "she made me wait" is sy het my laat wag — literally "she has me let wait." This pattern, called the double infinitive, is shared with the modal-type verbs.
| Present | Perfect (double infinitive) | English |
|---|---|---|
| Sy laat my wag. | Sy het my laat wag. | She made me wait. |
| Hy laat die motor regmaak. | Hy het die motor laat regmaak. | He had the car fixed. |
| Ek laat jou weet. | Ek het jou laat weet. | I let you know. |
Sy het my 'n hele uur laat wag in die reën.
She made me wait a whole hour in the rain.
Ek het my hare gister laat sny.
I had my hair cut yesterday.
Hulle het die hek laat regmaak na die storm.
They had the gate repaired after the storm.
The full word-order rules for stacking these infinitives are on double infinitive.
Fixed expressions with laat
Beyond the open causative pattern, laat anchors a set of high-frequency fixed phrases that are worth banking whole. In each one laat is followed by a bare infinitive or particle, exactly as the core pattern predicts — but the meaning is lexicalised, so learn them as chunks.
| Expression | English |
|---|---|
| laat weet | to let know, inform |
| laat staan | to leave alone; let alone |
| laat val | to drop; to let fall |
| laat los | to let go, release |
| laat spaander | to take off, dash off (colloquial) |
Laat weet my asseblief sodra jy daar aankom.
Please let me know as soon as you arrive there.
Laat staan my goed — ek het dit so reggepak.
Leave my things alone — I packed them that way on purpose.
Sy het die bord laat val toe die foon lui.
She dropped the plate when the phone rang.
Common mistakes
❌ Sy het my laat om te wag.
Incorrect — laat takes a bare infinitive; no om te.
✅ Sy het my laat wag.
She made me wait.
❌ Hy het my gelaat wag.
Incorrect — laat has no participle gelaat; the perfect is het laat + infinitive.
✅ Hy het my laat wag.
He made me wait.
❌ Laat my om te dink.
Incorrect — no om te after laat; the infinitive stays bare.
✅ Laat my dink.
Let me think.
❌ Ek laat my motor om reggemaak te word.
Overbuilt — the 'have done' sense is just laat + bare infinitive: laat regmaak.
✅ Ek laat my motor regmaak.
I'm having my car fixed.
Key takeaways
- laat = English let, make, and have-done in one verb. Forms: present laat, future sal laat.
- It always takes a bare infinitive — never om te: laat my dink, laat hom slaap.
- It has no participle: the perfect is the double infinitive het … laat + infinitive — sy het my laat wag, not gelaat.
- The named doer of the second verb slots in with no preposition: sy laat die kinders opruim.
- For the causative grammar — agents, word order, nuances — see causative laat; for stacking infinitives, double infinitive.
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- The Causative: laatB1 — The verb laat takes a bare infinitive to express letting, making or having someone do something — one Afrikaans verb covering English 'let', 'make' and 'have done'.
- The Double Infinitive (IPP)B2 — In the perfect, causative laat, perception verbs (hoor, sien) and modals don't take a participle — they appear as a bare infinitive, producing the het + infinitive + infinitive cluster known as the IPP effect.