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Just wanted to know the correct usage of 'us' and 'we' .

Are there any contexts in which they can be used interchangeably?

I know "Let we go" seems wrong..but couldn't explain it.

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4 Answers 4

up vote 5 down vote accepted

Us is accusative since it is the direct object of let. Disambiguation might help:

Allow us to go.

The convention is to delete the to from the verb after let; otherwise it is the same as allow:

Allow them to come here turns into Let them come here.

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so is "Let we go" wrong or has it a different meaning? –  wiso Aug 26 '11 at 19:07
@wiso: Let we go is never correct. –  Daniel Aug 26 '11 at 19:11

Let is followed from the object, which is then us, not we; we is used in the subject case, while us is used in the object case.

My boss let me leave early.
"Dear God," Jessica prayed, "let him be all right."

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In your examples, 'let' is imperative (or hortatory, I suppose, but I think it's classed as the imperative mood in English) and the subject of the sentence is an implied you (be it singular or plural). So, as others have said, the 'us' is the object, so it's the accusative 'us' rather than the nominative 'we'.

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Are there any contexts in which they can be used interchangeably?

Since the others don't seem to have addressed this: not technically. 'we' is subjective, and 'us' is accusative.

However, informally, people often use the accusative for "subjective completion" of a copula, where prescriptivists mandate the subjective. Thus "it is I" is correct, but "it's me" is idiomatic. Presumably, one would normally hear "it's us" rather than "it is we".

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