To be allowed means to have permission to do something. When you're allowed to stay up late on a weekend, your parents have given you permission. When students are allowed to use calculators on a math test, the teacher has decided it's okay.

A librarian might allow you to check out extra books if you've returned all your previous ones on time. A coach might allow the team to skip practice after they've worked especially hard all week.

Being allowed is different from being forced or required. If you're allowed to choose your own book for a report, you have freedom within certain boundaries. Notice the difference: being required to read means you must do it, but being allowed to read during free time means you may do it if you want.

Sometimes people use allowed to mean “made possible” in a broader sense. Good weather might allow a family to go hiking, or studying hard might allow a student to understand a difficult concept. In these cases, something creates the conditions or opportunity for something else to happen.