“borrow” and “lend” often confuse English students. Even some native speakers make mistakes with these 2 words!
Both words describe the action of somebody temporarily giving something to somebody else.
“borrow” and “lend” describe this same situation but from different perspectives.
lend
Definition
- to give something to somebody for a temporary period of time.
- The subject of the verb “lend” is the person who is giving something.
- We expect them to return the object to us at a later time.
Jane is lending Mark some money
2 possible forms:
1) to lend somebody something
Example:
Jane is lending Mark some money.
2) to lend something to somebody
Example:
Jane is lending some money to Mark.
Past tense: lent (irregular)
I lent Mark my computer last week.
Past participle: lent (irregular)
David has lent me his car because mine has been stolen.
borrow
Definition
- to take something from somebody for a temporary period of time.
- The subject of the verb “borrow” is the person who is taking and receiving something.
- We expect to return the object to the person at a later time.
Mark is borrowing some money from Jane.
1 possible form:
to borrow something from somebody
Example:
Mark is borrowing some money from Jane.
Past tense: borrowed (regular)
I borrowed a DVD from Jane yesterday.
Past participle: borrowed (regular)
Sarah has borrowed my phone because hers is broken.
Common mistake with corrections
People often make mistakes by mixing up both of these words:
Can you borrow me a pen? 
This is wrong because we are asking someone to give us something. The subject of the question is giving. Therefore we must use “lend” or change the subject of the question:
Can you lend me a pen? 
Can I borrow a pen?
Conclusion
The important thing to remember is:
If the subject of the sentence is giving -> lend
If the subject of the sentence is taking -> borrow
NoorHuda says
Hi, it was an informative lesson. I enjoyed learning it. I would say you must have added something like one who lends is “lender” and one who borrows is “borrower”.
English is very difficult to learn and speak the way English speakers speak. Always at BBC I come across a very different and refreshing style of English speaking and writing.
Efforts from your side to teach us are highly appreciated.!!!
amir says
Hi, it was very informative lesson. thanks very much.
The difference among “Product” and “fabrication” and “make”
thanks in advance.
Safwat says
HI . Thank you for your efforts
alpa says
Thank you , your teaching Technic is really good .Because of it students can understand it easily and in addition to it , they can remember easily and can use into sentence quickly.
Swapan Kumar Sarkar says
Thanks a lot.The way you have explained the difference between the words in question is excellent. Now everyone ,who is in doubt,can use the words correctly.
Delic says
Thank you
Evidence says
Hi, thanks a lot now i know the difference between lend and borrow, and would not be misusing it any longer.
Luis Hernando says
Thanks a lot, very nice explantion.
A hug from Colombia.
Promise says
Thanks you
Andre Luis says
The article was perfectly written by Andrew. Here in Brazil we use only one word to express the same thing. If you give temporaly someting to somebody we use the verb “emprestar”. Likewise we use the verb “emprestar”when we receive something.
Gilberto César says
Perfect article.
It cleared my mind about this subject.
Thank you
César
MZ