💸 Lend vs Borrow
Wob wants five dollars, so he asks Mia: "Can you borrow me five dollars?" Mia takes him at his word, and she borrows Wob! He only gets the money when he asks the right way.
The rule
lend
= you GIVE something to someone for a while
- ✅ Can you lend me $5?
- ✅ She lent me her umbrella.
borrow
= you TAKE something from someone for a while
- ✅ Can I borrow $5?
- ✅ I borrowed a pen from Ollie.
The mix-up
- ❌ Can you borrow me $5?
- ✅ Can you lend me $5?
- ✅ Can I borrow $5?
Good to know
- Past forms: lend → lent → lent; borrow → borrowed → borrowed.
- 🇺🇸 In American English, people also say "Can you loan me $5?". In British English, "loan" as a verb is mostly for banks and official lending.
Quick quiz
1Can I ___ your pen?
Answer: borrow. I take the pen, so it's borrow.
2My brother ___ me his bike yesterday.
Answer: lent. He gave me the bike: lend → lent.
3Which one is correct?
Answer: Can you lend me $5?. You're asking them to give, so it's lend.
Checked in
- Cambridge Dictionary: lend, borrow
- Oxford Learner's Dictionaries: lend, borrow
- Merriam-Webster: borrow ("borrow" meaning "lend" is only a dialect use)