Let is an irregular verb. Its past tense form (let) must be memorized as it does not follow standard conjugation rules.
Verbs that follow a similar irregular pattern to let:
| Base | Past Tense | Pattern |
|---|
Let is irregular. Its past tense (let) must be memorized.
Use past time markers: "Yesterday, she let to the store."
No. Use "did not let" (not "did not let").
The verb let is an irregular verb in English. Unlike regular verbs that simply add -ed, let changes to let in the past tense. This irregular form must be memorized as it does not follow the standard conjugation rules.
Irregular verbs like let/let trace back to Old English strong verbs, where vowel changes (ablaut) indicated tense shifts. Over centuries, most verbs regularized to the -ed pattern, but the most frequently used verbs retained their irregular forms because they were too common to change. This is why go/went, see/saw, and break/broke remain irregular today.
When using let in writing, remember that it functions as a past tense verb and typically appears with time markers like yesterday, last week, or ago. For example: "Yesterday, she let to the store." The past tense form does not change based on the subject — I let, you let, he/she let, we let, they let.