In this mini episode, you will learn how to use the words “borrow” and “lend.”
Episode 265 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the words “borrow” and “lend.” Send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hi! This is So Yeong from Busan, in Korea. You are listening to (the) informative Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 265 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts, on the Stitcher app, and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, we are going to talk about two words that are kind of like opposites. These two words mean opposite things. The words are borrow and lend. Borrow and lend. Borrow is spelled b-o-r-r-o-w. And lend is spelled l-e-n-d. Borrow and lend.
What do these words mean? Borrow means “to take something from somebody else temporarily.” If somebody gives us something or lets us use something temporarily—in other words, not forever—then we are borrowing that thing. We borrow it when we take it or use it temporarily. The word borrow always suggests that we are taking or using something with permission.
And lend is sort of the opposite. Lend means “to give something to somebody temporarily.” When you lend something to somebody, you are not just giving it to them. You are giving it to them for a certain period of time. Not forever. Or you are giving it to the person, knowing, or assuming, that the person will return it to you at some time in the future.
That’s what I mean when I say these two words are like opposites: one means “to take or receive something temporarily,” and one means “to give something temporarily.” To take or receive and to give.
How do we use these words in sentences?
When we use borrow, we often use it with a prepositional phrase that starts with from. From: f-r-o-m. In other words, you borrow something from someone. You borrow something from someone.
Let’s say your friend has a truck. And you would really like to be able to use this truck because you are going to be moving to another house or another apartment. Having a truck will make it much easier for you to move all of your things.
So you could say, “I hope that I can borrow a truck from my friend.” I hope that I can borrow a truck from my friend.
All right. That’s borrow. How do we use the word lend in a sentence? Let’s use that same example, the same example about somebody needing a truck to move to a new house or apartment. If I am the person with the truck, I could say, “I will lend my truck to my friend.” I will lend my truck to my friend.
Where borrow used “from someone,” lend uses “to someone.” Borrow a truck from your friend, and lend a truck to your friend. In that way, lend works the same way that give works. It works the same way the verb give works. I can say, “I will give this to you.” I will give this to you. I can lend it to you or give it to you. They both use to.
But remember this: with give there’s another construction we also use.
We can say, “I will give this money to you.” And we can also say, “I will give you this money.” There are those two constructions that we use with the verb give. You can give something to somebody, or you can give somebody something. And it works the same way with lend.
So, I can say, “I will lend the truck to my friend,” and I can also say, “I will lend my friend the truck.” They both work. Just like give, lend works with those two constructions. Because it is basically the same as give. Or it’s a kind of giving. And the verbs work in a similar way.
And that is borrow and lend—two verbs that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 265 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions for the podcast, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way So Yeong recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode, and until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. Goodbye! I’ll see you soon.