Borrow vs Lend Me Meaning, Difference, and Grammar with Example Sentences

Hello, my name is Esther.

And in this video we're going to talk

about how to use the word ‘borrow’ or ‘lend me’.

Well, when do we use this word?

Well, let me give you an example.

Let's say that you're taking a test

and you look in your bag

and uh-oh you forgot your pencil.

So what do you do?

You have to ask someone next to you, or maybe a friend

to let them use your pencil.

And a mistake that a lot of people make is they say,

“Can you borrow me your pencil?”

But that's actually wrong.

Don't say that.

Don't say,

“Can you borrow me your pencil?”

The actual way to say it

goes like this.

Let's look at an example sentence.

“Can I borrow your pencil?”

That's the correct way to say it.

“Can I borrow your pencil?

Okay.

Another way that you can say is,

“Can you lend me your pencil?”

Let's look at it again.

“Can you lend me your pencil?”

Now, both of these ways are okay.

And they're both correct and right,

but I think this one is a better way to say it.

Again, let's remember it's not,

‘Can you borrow me’, okay, don't say that.

Say this,

“Can I borrow your pencil?”

Let's look at a couple more examples sentences.

Let's look at some more examples.

Is it okay if I borrow your book?

Is it okay if I borrow your book?

May I borrow some money?

May I borrow some money?

Can I borrow your umbrella?

Can I borrow your umbrella?

Can you lend me your eraser?

Can you lend me your eraser?

Would you lend me your book?

Would you lend me your book?

Please lend me a pen.

Please lend me a pen.

Alright, now, in the beginning of the video, I taught you

to say, “Can I borrow… something”

“Can I borrow your pencil?”

But, actually,

there's a more polite way to say this.

And that is by saying,

“May I borrow something from you?”

You should use ‘May I’ when you're talking to someone you don't know very well.

Maybe it's a complete stranger,

or maybe you know that person,

but you guys aren't really close friends.

It's better to use ‘May I’.

So again, “May I borrow something?”

For example,

“May I borrow your pen?”

Or “May I borrow your phone?”

Or maybe like I said in the example in the beginning,

“May I borrow your pencil or eraser?”

Okay. Well that's it for today.

I hope you guys learned something and I'll see you guys next time.

Bye.