Let's and Let Us.....

Caroline   Saturday, May 08, 2004, 01:09 GMT
"Let us", unlike many other contracted words, seem to not be interchangable with the contracted version of the world. In fact, the contracted version, "Let's" is used primarily when talking to a party including yourself. Most people use "let us" when talking to someone outside of that party. For example:

"Let's have a cup of coffee before the meeting."(Talking directly to someone inside of the party.)
"Let us have some coffee before the meeting."(Talking to someone outside of the party.)

My question is, are their any other words(contractions) like this?
Ghoti   Saturday, May 08, 2004, 01:18 GMT
What about ''lettuce''. ''let us'' sounds like ''lettuce''.
Julian   Saturday, May 08, 2004, 03:36 GMT
I don't follow. "Let's" and "let us" mean the exact same thing, regardless if a person is "inside of the party" or not.

You're pretty swift there, Ghoti.
Julian   Saturday, May 08, 2004, 04:20 GMT
On the other hand, if you and a friend were kidnapped or being held hostage, it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to plead to your captors, "Please, let's go!" You would have to say, "Please let us go!" Is this the point you're trying to make?
Caroline   Saturday, May 08, 2004, 16:11 GMT
Exactly. But if you were talking directly to your friend, then you would say "Please, let's go."