JLPT N5 · Invitations and offers · 43 of 60

Let's with ましょう

～ましょう ~ mashou Let's do

Change ます to ましょう (mashou) to say "let's". You hear it all day in Japanese classrooms: 始めましょう, let's begin.

Level: JLPT N5, beginner
Type: Invitations and offers
English links: let's, suggestions, base form, imperatives

What it means

To make ましょう, take the ます form and change ます to ましょう. 行きます becomes 行きましょう (let's go). 食べます becomes 食べましょう (let's eat). It works the same way for every verb.

ましょう is a suggestion that includes the speaker. It is friendly and polite. It works best when the plan is clear or the other person already agrees, and it moves things along: 始めましょう, let's start.

Teachers in Japan use it all the time: 読みましょう, 書きましょう, 見ましょう. Your students have heard it from their own teachers since their first school year, so "Let's..." feels like the normal classroom word to them.

Add か and it becomes a question: 行きましょうか, shall we go? That has its own page.

How to build it

Pattern	How it works
行きます → 行きましょう ikimasu → ikimashou	Change ます to ましょう.
食べます → 食べましょう tabemasu → tabemashou	The same rule for every verb group.
します → しましょう / 来ます → 来ましょう shimasu → shimashou / kimasu → kimashou	The two irregular verbs follow the rule too.
Casual: 行こう, 食べよう ikou, tabeyou	The casual "let's", used with friends. You will meet it at N4.

Examples

始めましょう。 hajimemashou. Let's begin.
一緒に昼ご飯を食べましょう。 issho ni hirugohan o tabemashou. Let's have lunch together.
教科書の五ページを開きましょう。 kyoukasho no go peeji o hirakimashou. Let's open our textbooks to page five.
ちょっと休みましょう。 chotto yasumimashou. Let's take a short break.
駅まで歩きましょう。 eki made arukimashou. Let's walk to the station.

How English says it

"Let's" plus the base verb: "Let's go", "Let's eat". It is short for "let us", but no one says that in daily speech. The verb after it never changes: no "to", no "-ing", no past.

The negative is "Let's not": "Let's not be late." In an English classroom, the teacher often uses the imperative, the bare command form, instead: "Open your books." Japanese classrooms say 開きましょう, so students may expect "Let's open...".

Why it can make English hard

Students often add "to" or "-ing" after "let's": "Let's to go", "Let's going". Japanese has no word in that slot to guide them.
You will often see "Let's" in Japanese ads and school slogans with a noun after it: "Let's English!" Students may think it works with any word.
The negative is hard to guess. Some students build it like ません and say "Let's don't".

Mistakes you will hear

Let's to go to the park. Let's go to the park. "Let's" takes the base verb, with no "to".
Let's English! Let's speak English! A common slogan in Japan. English needs a verb after "let's".
Let's going shopping. Let's go shopping. Only the base form after "let's". "Shopping" stays as it is.
Let's don't be late. Let's not be late. Put "not" straight after "let's".

In the classroom

Collect the classroom ましょう phrases your students already know (読みましょう, 書きましょう) and match each one with its English "Let's".
Plan a class party. Each student makes one suggestion with "Let's...". The class answers "Yes, let's!" or "No, let's not."
Write "Let's English!" on the board and ask what is missing. Students supply a verb: speak, study, enjoy. It shows in ten seconds that "let's" needs a verb.

Practice

Try each one, then open it to check.

1. Change to "let's": 帰ります。

Answer: 帰りましょう。

Change ます to ましょう.
2. Fill the gap: 窓を閉め＿＿＿。 (Let's close the window.)

Answer: ましょう

閉めます becomes 閉めましょう.
3. Translate: 一緒に歌いましょう。

Answer: Let's sing together.

ましょう is "let's" plus the base verb.
4. A student writes "Let's to play soccer after school." Fix it.

Answer: Let's play soccer after school.

No "to" after "let's".