Lend or borrow: what's the difference? - English In A Minute - YouTube

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!