Commonly Confused Words

Borrow vs. Lend

1 min read

Borrow and lend describe the same action but from opposite directions. One is about receiving something; the other is about giving it.

Borrow

Borrow means to take something from someone with the intention of giving it back. The object comes to you.

Can I borrow your pen?
She borrowed my car for the afternoon.
We often borrow books from the library.

Lend

Lend means to give something to someone temporarily. The object goes from you to another person.

I can lend you some money until tomorrow.
He lent his jacket to his friend.
The bank lends money to customers.

💡 Tip

Borrow = the item comes to you.
Lend = the item goes from you.

Test your knowledge 📝

Question 1 sur 8Score: 0/8

Can I ___ your notes for the test?

Discover the app: Shaky English

Join 100,000 people who are improving their English skills on the Shaky English app

Other similar rules

Agreement rules

Incomplete Comparisons

When you make a comparison, you need to compare two or more things clearly. If you leave something out, the sentence becomes confusing — or sounds unfinished. That’s called an incomplete comparison....

Common mistakes

Since vs. For

We use since and for to talk about how long something has been happening — but they are used in different ways depending on the type of time reference. When to use “since” Since is used with a speci...

Common confusions

More than vs. Over

Is it “more than 100 people” or “over 100 people”? Good news: in most cases, both are correct! But here’s how to choose the best one for your sentence 🧠 More than More than is used to talk about qu...

Conjugation

Too vs. Enough

Too and enough both talk about quantity, but they work in opposite ways — and they appear in different places in a sentence. When to use “too” Too means “more than needed” or “more than is good.” It...

Common confusions

Your vs. You're

Your shows that something belongs to you. It’s a possessive adjective. Your phone is ringing. 📱 (The phone belongs to you.) I love your new haircut. ✂️ Is this your water bottle? You're is...

Agreement rules

Passive Voice

The passive voice is used when the focus is on the action, not the person or thing doing it. It’s formed with the verb to be + past participle of the main verb. Active: The chef cooked the meal. Pass...

Conjugation

Articles: A, An, The

In English, articles help us show whether we’re talking about something general or specific. The main articles are a, an, and the. Sometimes we use no article at all — this is called the zero article....

Conjugation

Some vs. Any

Some and any are both used to talk about an unknown quantity of something. They are often used before plural countable nouns or uncountable nouns — but we use them in different types of sentences. Wh...

Commonly Confused Words

Borrow vs. Lend

1 min read

Borrow and lend describe the same action but from opposite directions. One is about receiving something; the other is about giving it.

Borrow

Borrow means to take something from someone with the intention of giving it back. The object comes to you.

Can I borrow your pen?
She borrowed my car for the afternoon.
We often borrow books from the library.

Lend

Lend means to give something to someone temporarily. The object goes from you to another person.

I can lend you some money until tomorrow.
He lent his jacket to his friend.
The bank lends money to customers.

💡 Tip

Borrow = the item comes to you.
Lend = the item goes from you.

Test your knowledge 📝

Question 1 sur 8Score: 0/8

Can I ___ your notes for the test?

Discover the app: Shaky English

Join 100,000 people who are improving their English skills on the Shaky English app

Other similar rules

Agreement rules

Incomplete Comparisons

Common mistakes

Since vs. For

Common confusions

More than vs. Over

Conjugation

Too vs. Enough

Common confusions

Your vs. You're

Agreement rules

Passive Voice

Conjugation

Articles: A, An, The

Conjugation