Borrow or Lend? 

What's the difference between
"borrowing" a book and "lending" a book?


Borrow

Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All English Tenses

Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All Tenses

"To borrow" means "to take something that belongs to someone else, and return it to them later."

Examples:
  • "Can I borrow your car?"
  • "I need to return the book I borrowed from the library."
  • "He borrowed 10,000 dollars from the bank."

Lend

"To lend" means "to give something to someone, when they need to return it to you later."

Examples:
  • "I can't lend you my car. I am using it."
  • "This library lends books for free."
  • "The bank lent her a loan of 10,000 dollars."

"The bank lent her a loan of 10,000 dollars."

In summary, borrowing is an action of taking, and lending is an action of giving.


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