Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[learner1]

Hello,

Do the four expressions all have the same meaning:
'leave someone/something be'
'let someone/something be'
'leave someone/something alone'
'let someone/something alone'
e.g.

1."The baby is crying!" "Leave/Let him be/alone; he'll soon stop."

2."Let/Leave him be/alone, he is doing no harm."

Than you very much.

[buddhaheart]

1. Leave someone be
not worry someone, or allow them to continue what they are doing.

2. Leave someone alone
Go away ; don�t interfere.

3. let someone be
stop criticizing or annoying someone.

4. *Let someone alone
No such expression. Not that I know.

1."The baby is crying!" "Leave/Let him be/alone; he'll soon stop."
Depending on the meaning you�re trying to convey, 1. & 2. are possible with this sentence.

2."Let/Leave him be/alone, he is doing no harm."
Again depending on the meaning you�re trying to convey, I think all three are possible with this sentence.

[learner1]

Hello buddhaheart,

First, let me thank you for your reply. However, I am still confused. After consulting the dictionary, the two phrases 'leave someone/sthg alone' and 'leave someone/sthg be' seem to have the same meaning to me. Their definition as follows:

leave somebody/something be:

old-fashioned to not upset, speak to, or annoy someone or to not touch something

leave somebody/something alone:

a) to stop annoying or upsetting someone
b)to stop touching something

Are they interchangeable if they mean the same?
If so, do native speakers usually use 'leave...alone instead?

Thank you very much.

[buddhaheart]

In some context, the definition of the 2 expressions would seem to indicate they could be used interchangeably. We use mostly �leave sb/sth alone� here. �Leave sb/sth be� is probably old-fashioned.

[buddhaheart]

Let me make a correction here to my 1st reply: �Let sb/sth alone� is similar to �let sb/sth be� or �leave sb/sth untouched�.

�Leave alone� is interchangeable with �let alone� only in the sense to refrain from annoying or interfering with� as �let alone� could mean �not to mention�.

So �let him be� is synonymous with �leave him be� but the latter is considered substandard.

[learner1]

Hello Buddhaheart,

Thanks a lot to you for your kind reply.