BORROW vs LEND Learn Meanings and Differences with Example English Sentences

Hi, everyone. I’m Esther.

In this video, I’m going to talk about two similar and sometimes confusing English verbs

‘borrow’ and ‘lend’.

Mixing up the words ‘borrow’ and ‘lend’ can be a common confusion,

but this video will help you master their usage.

Let’s get started.

Let’s start with ‘borrow’.

It is a verb.

It means to take something from someone with the plan of giving it back after using it.

‘borrow’ is similar to the verbs ‘take’, ‘get’, and ‘receive’.

Remember, you borrow from someone.

Let’s look at some examples.

The first sentence says,

‘Could I borrow your pen for a minute, please?’

I’m asking if I can take your pen

but I will give it back after I use it.

The next sentence says,

‘Brenda often borrows Erin's car.’

Again Brenda might take Erin's car and use it for a little bit

but she will give it back to Erin.

Now, I will talk about ‘lend’.

It's an irregular verb.

The past tense of lend is ‘lent’.

It means to give something to someone for a short period of time

expecting it to be given back.

‘lend’ is similar to the verb ‘give’.

Remember, you lend to someone.

Let’s look at some examples.

The first sentence says,

‘I never lend my money to anyone.’

This means even though someone might pay me back,

I never give anyone that money.

The next sentence says,

‘I lent Gary my umbrella.’

In this sentence, it means I gave Gary my umbrella

and he will give it back to me later.

Now, let's do a checkup.

In this conversation, there are a few sentences.

In one of the sentences, we should use the word ‘borrow’.

In the other sentence, we use ‘lend’.

Take a moment to think about where we use these verbs.

‘A’ says,

‘May I _blank_ your car?’

‘A’ is asking ‘B’ can I take something from you and I will return it later.

The word ‘borrow’ means to take and return, so ‘A’ says,

‘May I borrow your car?’

In reply ‘B’ says, ‘Of course, I'd be happy to _blank_ it to you?’

In this case, we use ‘lend’

because lend means to give something to someone

knowing that they'll get it back later.

So let's take a look.

A: May I borrow your car?

B: Of course. I'd be happy to lend it to you.

Now you know the difference between ‘lend’ and ‘borrow’.

This can be confusing but with a lot of practice you will master these very important verbs.

Good job, everybody and see you in the next video.