Basic English: “BORROW” or “LEND”?

Hi, everyone. I'm Alex from engVid. And, today, I want to give you a beginner

lesson on two words that are commonly confused by English learners. Those

words are: "borrow" and "lend". We use these words when we talk about using

something, or asking for something from someone, and you want to use it for a

short period of time. So, for example: Your friend has a pencil. You want to

use or you need to use a pencil, and you ask your friend: "Could I" — what word

do I use? "Could I borrow" or "Could I lend"? Hmm. Or do you say: "Could you

borrow me" or "Could you lend me"? Well, I'm going to tell you right now. So,

"Could I borrow your pencil?" "Borrow" is a transitive verb. So, you always use

"borrow", plus the object. Okay? So, "Could I borrow your phone?", "Could I

borrow your pen?", "Could I borrow your car this evening?" for example. So,

remember: "borrow", plus the object you want to use, or you want to borrow for a

short amount of time.

Another word... the other word is: "lend". Now, with "lend" — this is also

a transitive verb, which means it needs an object, but you need a primary

objects and a secondary object, or a direct object and an indirect object.

The indirect object is usually a person. So, you say: "Could you lend me your

phone?" for example. Or: "Could you lend me your" — I don't know — "your pen?"

Okay. I'm using pens, pencils, phones, cars. Very... four very different

things; except for pens and pencils. So, with "lend", you have to use you know...

"Could you lend..." "Lend" who? "Lend me", "lend my sister", "lend my father",

lend someone something. Okay? So, one more time. With "borrow": "Could I

borrow your pen?" With "lend": "Could you lend me your pen?" So, this is when

you ask for something; you request to use something. So, the common mistake...

and normally, I don't like mentioning mistakes in videos because students hear

the mistakes and sometimes that's what they remember from the video. But I want

to tell you, because I hear this all the time, is: "Could you borrow me?" Okay?

So, no. "Could you lend me?" or "Could I borrow...?" You can also use the word:

"let" with this. So, "Could you let me borrow...?" Right? So, "Could you allow

me to borrow...?" if you want to be a little more polite, a little more... not

formal, but a little extra polite. Okay? And the most common phrase that I've

used in this lesson to ask for something, especially if you are a

beginner student is: "Could you". Okay? "Could you let me borrow...?" Or: "Could

you lend me...?" Or: "Could I borrow something?"

So, just to finish this video, I'm going to make some requests and I want you to

repeat my sentences. Could I borrow your pencil? Could you lend me five dollars?

Could I borrow your phone? Could you lend me your pencil? Okay. So, I hope I

have helped you to erase the confusion between these two commonly-confused

words: "lend" and "borrow". If you want to test your understanding of this

material — as always, you can do the quiz on www.engvid.com. And

www.engvid.com has thousands of other lessons that you can watch. If you are a

beginner student, go: "Sort by", you know... beginner lessons, or

intermediate, or advanced. So, look at all of the beginner lessons we have on

www.engvid.com. Until next time, good luck with your studies and thanks for

clicking.