Reports show that borrow and lend are often interchanged by some speakers of the English language.
For clarity, these words are converse antonyms—words that cannot exist without each other. This implies that for someone to borrow, there must be another to lend.
Borrow and lend are also reciprocal pairs like give/take, teach/learn and open/close that show both sides of a situation.
Let’s explain them thus:
Borrow (verb)
Borrow means ‘to take or receive something from someone, which is expected to be returned’. When you think of borrow, think of ‘take’. Whatever you borrow comes to you from someone or somewhere else.
Examples:
- I borrowed the book from the public library, but I must return it next week.
- He borrowed my shirt but won’t bring it back—which is quite unfair?
- Can I borrow your pen?
Lend
Lend means ‘give something out to someone, which is expected to be returned’. When you think of lend, think of ‘give’.
Examples:
- He begged me to lend him my car to impress his girlfriend.
- Sophia will lend me some money tomorrow but I know I won’t pay her back.
- Could you lend me your pen?
Remember: While what you borrow ‘comes in’, what you lend ‘goes out’; the lender will give, the borrower will take. Thus, ‘Borrow me your pen’ is incorrect because it means ‘Take me your pen’. The correct request is ‘Lend me your pen’ which is same as ‘Give me your pen’.
Note: Lend is a verb, but it is used informally in some dialects in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Northern England as a noun, as in: ‘Can I have a lend of your phone?’