Borrow and Lend

For many learners of English, borrow and lend are two confusing verbs. Both words have a difference in meaning. If you give something to someone, you lend it; if you take and use something from someone, you borrow it.

Lend something to someone

or

Lend someone something

Borrow something from someone

Note:

Lend is irregular: lend, lent, lent

Borrow is regular: borrow, borrowed, borrowed

Lend

Lend means to allow someone to have or use something that belongs to you for a short time and then return.

I lent Dave my car.

I will lend my coat to him.

The bank refused to lend me $5 000.

She lent me £100 for two weeks.

Loan and lend are synonyms.

He loaned me $1 000.

I loaned my car to a friend.

Borrow

Borrow is a regular verb. It means to take and use something that belongs to someone else for a short time and then return.

I borrowed two books from the library

Can I borrow your camera?= Can you lend me your camera?

He borrowed $100 from his father.

Summary

Lend and borrow are not used interchangeably. You lend something to someone, while they borrow it from you.