Guide to English grammar

Let the person who made this mess clean it up.
Let the voters choose the government they want.
Let them decide. (They should decide.)

NOTE
There are two special sentence patterns with a similar meaning to the imperative. Both the subjunctive and may can express a wish. These patterns are rather formal and used only in limited contexts.

God, save the Queen.
May your dreams come true. (GB)

7 Overview: imperative forms

Person First singular First plural Second Second + subject Third

Positive Let me play a record. Let's play tennis. Play fair. You play the piano now. Let the music play.

Negative Let's not play/ Don't let's play here. Don't play that record. Don't you play that silly game.

Emphatic Do let's play soon. Do play a record.

A practical guide to English grammar 22

20 Exclamations

An exclamation is a sentence spoken with emphasis and feeling. We often use a pattern with how or what.

1 How and what

Compare these patterns.

Question Exclamation

How warm is the water? How warm the water is!

The exclamation means that the water is very warm. It expresses the speaker's feeling about the degree of warmth. After how there can be an adjective or adverb.