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Unit 1: English In A Minute
Give us a minute and we'll teach you English

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Session 78

Welcome to English In A Minute. Give us a minute and we'll give you a hot tip about English. Grammar, vocabulary... there's so much to learn! And all taught by your favourite BBC Learning English staff!

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    Activity 1
  1. Activity 1

Activity 1

Lend vs Borrow

Do you have a minute to spare to learn some English? Georgina's going to give us a clue as to why lend and borrow aren't the same. Give us 60 seconds and we'll give you the English!

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Georgina
I'm Georgina from BBC Learning English. Have you ever thought about the difference between 'lend' and 'borrow'? They are both verbs but they're used in different ways.

'Lend' means 'to give something to someone' generally for a short time. For example: The bank lent me some money. 
If you want to say who you lent something to, you can use the preposition 'to'. I lent my mobile phone to James. Oh no! I forgot my pen. Can you lend me a pen?

'Borrow' means 'to ask someone for something'. Oh no! I can't read this. Can I borrow your glasses?
If you want to say who you borrowed something from, you can use the preposition 'from'. For example: I borrowed a book from the library.

Oh, I'm late! I need to borrow a laptop from Sam for my meeting – got to go!

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EIAM Teaser 6minvocab_li_13_similar-words.jpg Alice_9_link_image.jpg______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lend vs Borrow

Lend
Lend means 'give something to someone' often for a short time. You can use the preposition 'to' to connect the action to a person.

  • The bank lent me some money.
  • I lent my mobile phone to James.
  • Can you lend me a pen?

Borrow
Borrow means 'ask someone to take something of theirs' often for a short time. You can use the preposition 'from' to say where you got the thing.

  • Can I borrow your glasses?
  • I borrowed a book from the library.
  • I need to borrow a laptop from Sam for my meeting.

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