Borrow vs lend: the difference, examples and exercises

Lingo Phrase Cards

Can I borrow your book? and Can you lend me your book? make the same request. The verbs differ because the subject changes: one person temporarily receives the book; the other gives it.

This guide connects that change of viewpoint with borrow from, the two patterns for lend, and the past forms borrowed and lent. Then try ten practice questions with explained answers.

The basic difference: who gives and who receives?

In both sentences, the book moves from Mia to me. Only the viewpoint changes. Borrowing and lending involve an intended return, rather than a permanent gift. Cambridge English Grammar Today explains this distinction and the verb forms.

Remember the pair: I borrow from you. You lend to me. The verb follows the subject’s role, not the speaker’s position in the conversation.

Borrow from and lend to: sentence patterns

Borrow something from someone

With borrow, put the thing after the verb. Add from to identify its source:

• Can I borrow your charger?
• I sometimes borrow tools from my neighbor.

You do not need a from-phrase when the source is already clear. Your charger identifies whose charger you want. If you are asking someone to give you their charger temporarily, do not say Can you borrow me your charger? Use lend with that subject.

Lend someone something or lend something to someone

Lend has two common arrangements:

• Could you lend me your charger? — person before thing, without to.
• Could you lend your charger to me? — thing before person, with to.

The request is the same. Learn the chunks lend me a book and lend a book to me, rather than adding a preposition to every mention of a person.

One situation, two viewpoints

Mia has a bike. Ben wants to use it until tomorrow:

Both questions ask for the same temporary use. The choice is not about questions versus statements, or one verb being more polite. You can also use could in both patterns: Could I borrow …? / Could you lend me …?

Past forms: borrowed and lent

• I borrowed her bike yesterday.
• She lent me her bike yesterday.
• I’ve borrowed this book before.
• She’s lent me this book before.

Do not use lended for these ordinary lending situations. After did, didn’t, can or could, use the base form instead: Did she lend you her bike?, not Did she lent …? For more on question structure, see the guide to do, does and did.

Three mistakes to fix

1. Wrong direction: Can you borrow me your pen? → Can you lend me your pen? You want the other person to give it to you.
2. Wrong preposition: I borrowed a pen to Mia. → I borrowed a pen from Mia. Mia is the source.
3. Changing only the verb: Mia lent Ben a pen does not become Mia borrowed Ben a pen. To describe the same event, say Ben borrowed a pen from Mia. The subject and the other parts of the sentence change too.

Before choosing the verb, identify the person receiving the object. Then decide which person is the subject of your sentence.

Exercises: borrow or lend?

Complete each sentence with the correct form of borrow or lend. Each situation involves temporary use with an intended return. Check the time expression and any auxiliary verb as well as the direction.

1. I forgot my pen. Could I ___ yours for a moment?
2. Your charger is at home. I can ___ you mine.
3. Yesterday, Lea ___ my camera from me.
4. Last week, I ___ my camera to Lea.
5. Did Sam ___ you his umbrella yesterday?
6. We often ___ books from the library.
7. Nina has ___ me her bike twice this month.
8. I have never ___ money from my sister.

Now rewrite the same situation from the other viewpoint:

9. Omar lent Eva his laptop. Start with Eva …
10. Can I borrow your ruler? Start with Can you … and keep the same request.

Answers and explanations

1. borrow — I want to receive the pen; use the base form after could.
2. lend — I offer to give you my charger; use the base form after can.
3. borrowed — Lea received my camera; yesterday makes this a past-simple sentence.
4. lent — I gave the camera to Lea; this is the past of lend.
5. lend — Sam gave the umbrella, but did takes the base form.
6. borrow — We receive books; from identifies the library as the source.
7. lent — Use the past participle after has; Nina gave her bike.
8. borrowed — Use the past participle after have; I would be the receiver.
9. Eva borrowed Omar’s laptop. Also possible: Eva borrowed a laptop from Omar. Eva receives the same device.
10. Can you lend me your ruler? The other person becomes the subject; the request stays the same.

Practice the whole phrase

Instead of recording two isolated translations, write a short situation: “I receive the book from Mia.” Produce I borrow the book from Mia, then switch to Mia lends me the book. This checks the direction and the sentence pattern together.

Lingo Phrase Cards offers vocabulary in phrases, with IPA and Amazon Polly Neural audio for the target-language phrases. Choose an available language direction and a suitable set. In regular study, answer before turning the card over, then assess your answer for the Leitner review schedule. The guide to learning vocabulary in context explains how to work with phrases rather than isolated word pairs.

For your next sentence, ask one question first: Does the subject give something or receive it? That tells you whether to build a lend sentence or a borrow sentence.

Explore the available language directions and sets in Lingo Phrase Cards

Sources

• Cambridge University Press & Assessment: Lend or borrow?, English Grammar Today.
• Englisch-hilfen.de: borrow or lend (German explanation).