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The English word "let's" can be found on everything in Japan The Japanese language has absorbed countless English words and phrases over the years, so it’s common to see English everywhere in Japan: on signs, on menus, in games, in advertisements, and so on.

But when these foreign words get absorbed, they often change meaning and usage until they become something new – a sort of “Japanese-style English”. There’s one really good example of this that can be seen almost everywhere in Japan: the English word “let’s”.

In English, we tend to rely on command forms of verbs to persuade people into doing things. As an example, if you look at most English-language ads, you’ll notice that they give you direct commands: “Get the power!” “Act now!” “Sleep better!” “Taste the rainbow!”

Of course, not everything is like this. But the next time you see a commercial, keep an eye out for the wording they use!

In Japanese, though, persuasion relies more heavily on suggestions and recommendations: “it would be good if you ___”, “how about ___”, or “you should ___”. Invitations are another major form of Japanese persuasion: “let’s ___”. In fact, such invitations are so common that Japanese ads use the English word “let’s” everywhere:

The word “let’s” is such a force in the Japanese language that it’s even used as a name for everything from restaurants to businesses to beverages:

Whenever the Japanese language absorbs a foreign word, the word changes a bit. In this case, any standard English grammar associated with “let’s” is discarded entirely. For example, it’s extremely common to add a noun right after a Japanese “let’s”:

The reason “let’s” is used in this new way is that the Japanese volitional form allows for nouns, unlike in English. In other words, the English word “let’s” gets used in a way that follows Japanese grammar rules and not English grammar. For more details about the Japanese volitional form, see here.

It’s also common to see a Japanese “let’s” followed by a verb ending in “-ing”:

This new form of “let’s” has actually been around a long time. It appeared in the earliest Japanese video games and regularly appears in games released today. Below are some examples of “let’s” in action:

If you find any other examples of “let’s” in Japanese video games, let’s let me know so I can add them to this list!

If you liked this breezy look at Japanese language quirks, you'll really like this article about Japanese L/R problems!