Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Learn three super-easy and very common conversation expressions: “Let’s”, “how about”, and “why don’t we”. You can start using these in conversations today! These expressions are commonly used in social situations. We use them when we are making plans with people. In this lesson, I will give examples of each of the expressions and you will also learn the grammar behind them. After watching, you can take the quiz to practice what you’ve learned. How about it? engvid.com/easy-english-conversation-lets-how-about-why-dont-we
Watch my NEW video to learn 6 easy conversation responses: youtu.be/D9kcf6yzQiU
In this lesson:
0:00 Introduction
0:31 "Let's"
2:42 "Let's not..."
4:00 "let's" or "lets"?
4:53 "How about we...?"
6:40 "How about": Grammar
8:34 "How about" in the negative
9:10 "Why don't we...?"
11:01 "Why don't we...": Grammar
TRANSCRIPT:
Hello.
My name is Emma, and today I am going to teach you three easy expressions we use in everyday
English.
I'm going to teach you "let's", I will teach you "how about", and I will also teach you
"why don't we".
So these are important expressions.
I'll teach you the grammar as well as how we use them.
So let's get started.
The first one we're going to look at is "let's".
We use "let's" when we are making a suggestion.
We are presenting a plan or idea to another person.
So my first example is "Let's go to the park."
What does this mean?
Well, "let's" means "let us", so it means "we".
"Let us go to the park."
"Let's go to the park."
And it just means my suggestion is we go to the park together.
Now it's really important that you notice this little apostrophe here, because without
this apostrophe, "let's" has a different meaning.
I'll explain that in a moment.
My second example is "Let's have lunch at 1pm."
What does this mean?
Well, it means my suggestion or my idea is we should have lunch at 1pm together.
So let's talk about the grammar of "let's".
So when we use "let's", again, it means "let us", it's followed by the base form of a verb.
So what does that mean?
Well, the verb does not have "ed", it does not have "ing", it does not have a conjugation;
it's just the base form.
So let's look at some examples.
I could say "Let's watch a movie."
"Watch" is the base form of the verb "to watch".
I could say "Let's see a show."
"See" is the base form of the verb "to see".
"Let's do art."
"Do" is the base form of the verb "to do".
Or "Let's eat a piece of cake."
And so, again, these are all suggestions on what you want to do with another person together.
So can you make a negative sentence with "let's"?
You sure can.
If you add "not", you can make a negative sentence or a negative suggestion.
So for example, "Let's not", and then you have the base of the verb.
Imagine somebody says to you, "Hey, let's eat 30 hot dogs tonight."
I don't think that's a good idea, so you might say, "Hmm, let's not eat 30 hot dogs together."
Or maybe somebody says, "Hey, let's go camping tonight."
If you don't like camping, you might say, "Let's not go camping tonight.
Let's do something else instead."
Maybe somebody wants to pull an all-nighter, stay up all night studying English at the
library.
You might say, "Hmm, let's not study English all night at the library."
So these are some examples of how to use "not".
So, again, it follows "let's", and "let's" stands for "let us", so "Let's not do this."
So very important, many people make mistakes with "let's".
Specifically, they confuse these two words, "let's" and "let's".
You might think, "Oh, well, aren't these the same?
They have the same pronunciation."
That's true, but the difference is this apostrophe.
"Let's" with no apostrophe means "allow", so I can say, "Oh, my mother lets me cook
turkey at Thanksgiving."
Or, "The kid's parents let him use his iPad all the time."
So it can mean "allow".
This is different than "let's" with an apostrophe, which means "let us", which is what we've
just talked about.
It means to give a suggestion.
All right, so let's now talk about "how about".
"How about" is another way to make a suggestion for a plan or idea.
I can say, "How about we learn English together?"
So this means I'm suggesting we learn English together.
It's my idea or my suggestion for a plan.
Here's another example.
"How about we watch a movie tonight?"
One thing I can also say about this is that sometimes in conversation, people will say
"how 'bout".
So even though when we write it, it's "how 'about", you might actually hear a native
speaker say, "How 'bout?
How 'bout we learn English tonight?
[…]
Learn three super-easy and very common conversation expressions: “Let’s”, “how about”, and “why don’t we”. You can start using these in conversations today! These expressions are commonly used in social situations. We use them when we are making plans with people. In this lesson, I will give examples of each of the expressions and you will also learn the grammar behind them. After watching, you can take the quiz to practice what you’ve learned. How about it? engvid.com/easy-english-conversation-lets-how-about-why-dont-we
Watch my NEW video to learn 6 easy conversation responses: youtu.be/D9kcf6yzQiU
In this lesson:
0:00 Introduction
0:31 "Let's"
2:42 "Let's not..."
4:00 "let's" or "lets"?
4:53 "How about we...?"
6:40 "How about": Grammar
8:34 "How about" in the negative
9:10 "Why don't we...?"
11:01 "Why don't we...": Grammar
TRANSCRIPT:
Hello.
My name is Emma, and today I am going to teach you three easy expressions we use in everyday
English.
I'm going to teach you "let's", I will teach you "how about", and I will also teach you
"why don't we".
So these are important expressions.
I'll teach you the grammar as well as how we use them.
So let's get started.
The first one we're going to look at is "let's".
We use "let's" when we are making a suggestion.
We are presenting a plan or idea to another person.
So my first example is "Let's go to the park."
What does this mean?
Well, "let's" means "let us", so it means "we".
"Let us go to the park."
"Let's go to the park."
And it just means my suggestion is we go to the park together.
Now it's really important that you notice this little apostrophe here, because without
this apostrophe, "let's" has a different meaning.
I'll explain that in a moment.
My second example is "Let's have lunch at 1pm."
What does this mean?
Well, it means my suggestion or my idea is we should have lunch at 1pm together.
So let's talk about the grammar of "let's".
So when we use "let's", again, it means "let us", it's followed by the base form of a verb.
So what does that mean?
Well, the verb does not have "ed", it does not have "ing", it does not have a conjugation;
it's just the base form.
So let's look at some examples.
I could say "Let's watch a movie."
"Watch" is the base form of the verb "to watch".
I could say "Let's see a show."
"See" is the base form of the verb "to see".
"Let's do art."
"Do" is the base form of the verb "to do".
Or "Let's eat a piece of cake."
And so, again, these are all suggestions on what you want to do with another person together.
So can you make a negative sentence with "let's"?
You sure can.
If you add "not", you can make a negative sentence or a negative suggestion.
So for example, "Let's not", and then you have the base of the verb.
Imagine somebody says to you, "Hey, let's eat 30 hot dogs tonight."
I don't think that's a good idea, so you might say, "Hmm, let's not eat 30 hot dogs together."
Or maybe somebody says, "Hey, let's go camping tonight."
If you don't like camping, you might say, "Let's not go camping tonight.
Let's do something else instead."
Maybe somebody wants to pull an all-nighter, stay up all night studying English at the
library.
You might say, "Hmm, let's not study English all night at the library."
So these are some examples of how to use "not".
So, again, it follows "let's", and "let's" stands for "let us", so "Let's not do this."
So very important, many people make mistakes with "let's".
Specifically, they confuse these two words, "let's" and "let's".
You might think, "Oh, well, aren't these the same?
They have the same pronunciation."
That's true, but the difference is this apostrophe.
"Let's" with no apostrophe means "allow", so I can say, "Oh, my mother lets me cook
turkey at Thanksgiving."
Or, "The kid's parents let him use his iPad all the time."
So it can mean "allow".
This is different than "let's" with an apostrophe, which means "let us", which is what we've
just talked about.
It means to give a suggestion.
All right, so let's now talk about "how about".
"How about" is another way to make a suggestion for a plan or idea.
I can say, "How about we learn English together?"
So this means I'm suggesting we learn English together.
It's my idea or my suggestion for a plan.
Here's another example.
"How about we watch a movie tonight?"
One thing I can also say about this is that sometimes in conversation, people will say
"how 'bout".
So even though when we write it, it's "how 'about", you might actually hear a native
speaker say, "How 'bout?
How 'bout we learn English tonight?
[…]
