Hello again!
English verbs are pretty similar, and sometimes it’s hard to know which one is the right one to use. Today, let’s talk about the verbs ‘to lend’ and ‘to borrow.’
Before we get started, I always try to remind you that there is a big difference between READING English and SPEAKING English. When you are ready to SPEAK English just like an American, you only need to click here!
Now back to understanding the difference between ‘to lend’ and ‘to borrow’. They’re confusing because the meanings happen to be very similar but different. But don’t worry; I’ll share some tips to help you use these verbs correctly and remember which one is correct. Very equal to the difference between been and gone, the main difference between ‘to lend’ and ‘to borrow’ is the direction of the action.
So, what do these words mean?
‘To lend’ means to give something to someone for a short time, and you expect to get it back again.
I’ll lend you some money when I get paid. He lent his car to a friend for the weekend. It’s important to note that this verb is a difference between British and American English.
We use Lend in British English, and instead, ‘loan’ we use in American English.
Lend is an irregular verb, so the past tense form becomes lent.
‘Loan’ is a regular verb, so it becomes loaned in the past tense. Can you lend me some money? Can you loan me some money? Both of these sentences are the same. So, lend means to give something to someone for a short time, and you can expect it back again.
When we use borrow, we need to switch the action to the person receiving the item. ‘To borrow’ means to get something from someone to give it back. You don’t plan to keep it, and the person who gave it to you expects to receive it back again. Borrow is a regular past tense verb, so we need to add -ed to make it borrowed in the past tense.
Let me show you what I mean.
Lend is similar to ‘give.’ And borrow is identical to ‘take’ or ‘receive.’ But both of these verbs mean that the action only happens for a short time.
Can you lend me your car for the weekend? Can I borrow your car for the weekend?
These two sentences describe precisely the same situation but from a different perspective. The subject is the person doing the action, which is different in each sentence, so the verb must be other. You can’t say, “Can I lend me your car for the weekend?” Because the car is not mine, I can’t lend the car to me or anyone else.
You can only lend something if it belongs to you. You also can’t say, “Can you borrow me your car?” And this is a widespread mistake. The person who owns the car cannot borrow it. When using these verbs, getting information about who’s giving and who’s taking something is essential.
So, let’s make sure you’re getting that part right. So we have the subject and lend. Remember, the subject is the person doing the action, so the person who is lending or who owns the object.
We have a subject with lend with our object pronoun and our object. So the object pronoun tells us who is receiving the action.
Can you lend me some money? Now, ‘lend’ can also be directly followed by the object, but you need to use the preposition if you want to say who’s receiving the action. So subject, lend, object, to someone. Can you lend some money to me? When using borrow, you can’t use an object pronoun after the verb.
You can’t say, “Can you borrow me your car?”
But you can use a subject with borrow and the object. “Can I borrow a pen?” And then you can add the preposition, from, and the person. “Can I borrow a pen from you?” Can you lend a pen to Paul?
Okay, are you ready to practice?
Practice using lend and borrow.
Please send me some comments showing me that you know how to use ‘lend’ and ‘borrow.’
I hope this was helpful for you.
Just remember that lend is to give, and borrow is to take.
Thanks for taking the time to read.
Bye for now!
