However, you don’t always have to use ‘from someone’ if this part is not important or is already clear from the context. For example, it may be clear that you are requesting to borrow something from the person to whom you are speaking. When the bookshop opens Elsa will lend David a helping hand. David is planning to open a bookshop and the bank has just lent him money. Additionally, CrownAcademyEnglish.com participates in other affiliate programs, and we sometimes get a commission from purchases made through our links. Both words describe the action of somebody temporarily giving something to somebody else.

She has held multiple finance and banking classes for business schools and communities. Borrowing often generates income for the lender, as they will get the principal sum with the decided interest rate and security rate. Borrowing means getting something like a commodity like gold or money at credit, and assurance like collateral or a bill of exchange is provided. English which determines whether the person is qualified as a proficient intermediate or an introductory speaker, is the universally accepted language.

Few vs a few and little vs a little: What’s the difference between these confusing words?

So, as we dive deeper into the relationship between these opposing words, remember the words’ respective connection to givers and takers. All opinions expressed on this blog are those of the individual writers, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Collins, or its parent company, HarperCollins. Lily borrows books from the library every week. Sarah has borrowed my phone because hers is broken. Give a hand is also used – give will be followed by a subject.

• If you borrow something that belongs to someone else, you use it for a period of time and then return it.
• If you’re confused about the difference between borrow vs lend, we’re about to explain what each word means and how to use them correctly in a sentence.
• Now, let’s take a closer look at how to use borrow or lend in a sentence, with the correct prepositions, subjects and objects.
• The past tense form and past participle of lend is lent.

Notice that the prepositions that often follow the verbs are different. We borrow from someone, but we lend to someone. These two words are a source of trouble for many English learners. They have about the same meaning, but each word’s action goes in different directions.

Today, we took quite a tour of these opposite words and learned some new synonyms, antonyms, phrases, and ways to avoid common translation mistakes. Borrow is meant for taking something from another person, with the prior information that you will give it back to them. Whereas, lend is meant for giving something to another person expecting to get it back later. Thus, the sentences you asked about, both are correct. Hence, our choice of “borrow” or “lend” will depend on which direction is more important to you.

Lend or Borrow?

Almost every student is confused with these kinds of questions. So this article will walk you through everything that you need to know about the words ‘lend’ and ‘borrow’. Once students go through this article, it will be easier for them to understand and use these terms correctly in sentences. If you’re confused about the difference between borrow vs lend, we’re about to explain what each word means and how to use them correctly in a sentence. We have included plenty of example sentences, along with some examples of incorrect usage, to make everything clearer to you.

Infer vs imply: What’s the difference and how should you use these words?

I built this detailed lesson for them and now I want to share it with my blog readers. There are many such words present in the English Language that often put the students in a tight spot. The reason being words like ‘lend’ and ‘borrow’ appear to have similar meanings, and students assume them to be synonymous and interchangeably usable, but that is not the case in reality. So, to make sure that one doesn’t get confused while using the words ‘lend’ and ‘borrow’, the following points will be discussed about the difference between these words. In the English language, homophones are those words and phrases which have sound alike but having a different meaning. Many times, homophones are very confusing for beginning writers as well as the language learners.

Lending is, many times, meaning extending loans that are given to a third party. The party is supposed to repay the loan with a rate of interest that is considered an income for the lender. In these two cases, you might have how banks handle debits and credits noticed that borrow is used in place of “take”, while lend is used as “give”. So, a little bit of confusion regarding these two may be cleared now. Read the article for using the two words correctly and confidently.

More in ‚Grammar‘

The borrowing is also termed as short selling or is an example of where one borrows shares of one company not purchased by the investor and is returned the borrower makes the same day and profits. Learn the difference between borrow and lend in this English lesson. When these verbs are mixed up, we end up with ‘borrow’ being used for an act of giving and ‘lend’ being used for an act of receiving, which is incorrect. Now, let’s take a closer look at how to use borrow or lend in a sentence, with the correct prepositions, subjects and objects.

Once students understand this difference between the words ‘lend’ and ‘borrow’, they can easily use them in the proper contexts. Another incorrect use of borrow and lend comes from forgetting that the item in question should be returned. If the item will be consumed or used in some other way that means it cannot (or should not) be returned, try using have, take, use or give instead.

Online English lessons

If there is money involved, then it would be better described as renting, hiring or loaning. Explore more phrases about money to help with this. Since writing isn’t the only place where we use words, we want you to be equipped with all the vocabulary tools, including how to pronounce these new words. As always, it’s smart to keep in mind that words may sound different when spoken with different regional accents. While this doesn’t change anything about the word, it will help expand your global understanding of the English language and its vernacular. Read on to let Lingolia teach you to use borrow and lend correctly, then test yourself in the free interactive exercises.

I have had success explaining this to my students by comparing lend and borrow with the verbs give and get. Therefore, we may say that both of these words describe the action of somebody temporarily giving something to somebody else. Also, these are used for the same situation but from different perspectives.

I just want to know how to use the words „borrow“ and „lend“ in a situation. Is it correct to say, „Could you lend me a pen?“ or “ Can I borrow your pen?“ Thank you very much. The borrower always has the lower hand as the lender has the security and can be sold if the borrower fails to repay the lender’s money. For example, a company brought stationery stock on credit here; the company is borrowing goods where they will provide security like a bill of exchange which can be later discounted from the bank. To borrow something means to receive something as a loan/temporarily.

When you lend something to someone, you do it for free. (When you charge money for the item, it is usually called loaning or renting). The difference is the direction of the object.