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Today when it was about time to go home, my English teacher asked me to lead my friends to pray in English. I led them by saying "Let's pray together!" However, my teacher told me that I was wrong and I should've just said "Shall we pray together.". Despite that, I'm unsure whether I was wrong. So, was I really wrong to say "Let's pray together"?

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  • He said: " There are just some things which can not be translated literally.". He compared it to "tidak apa-apa" in Bahasa, which is if we literally translate it to English will be "no what what" which doesn't make sense, and it should have been translated to "it's okay".
    – Mayna Tiza
    Jul 28, 2016 at 9:04
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    Tidak apa2 would translate nicely into many English lects with that same sense. And shall is rarely used in modern English. In America, there are only two constructions it occurs in. One is Shall we VP? which is an invitation, as noted. The other is Shall I VP? which is an offer. Both are rare and limited to special occasions. Let's, on the other hand, is very common and completely grammatical. It's a fixed contraction, like tak for tidak, and has almost as many uses.
    – John Lawler
    Jul 28, 2016 at 13:47

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The teacher has given an instruction as an elderly man. "Let's pray" is rather an order like, "shall we pray" is like a request, implying we shall pray only with your concurrence.

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No you was not wrong to say let's pray together.

let's --> let us

let us pray together

It makes perfect sense grammatically. It's an invitation to pray together. Maybe find a new English teacher!

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