字裡行間的區別lend and borrow can be confusing to many individuals who are trying to learn the English language. The reason behind this is that the meaning of the words is basically the same. They are both verbs and they both indicate an action in which an item is given to another individual for an amount of time with the expectation that it will be returned. The literal definition for lend is to ‘give something to someone for a short time, expecting that you will get it back. The literal definition for borrow is to ‘get something from someone, intending to give it back after a short time’.[i]

這意味著它們的主要區別是用來表示不同的方向。因此，借出物應在暫時給予他人時使用，借出物應在取走他人時使用

正確使用借用的示例如下：

Could I borrow your map?

James let Amos borrow his bicycle.

I don’t own an umbrella so I may have to borrow one if it rains.

正確使用lend的示例如下：

I will lend you my car for the day.

I never lend people money.

Eli would be happy to lend you one of his pens.

單詞之間的另一個區別是它們的共軛方式。lend的簡單過去分詞和過去分詞是lent（而不是lend）；借的簡單過去分詞和過去分詞是借的，因為它是一個規則動詞。

使用借用過去的共軛的例子如下：

I borrowed his map for the journey.

Anna borrowed a computer to write the report.

He borrowed a pair of shoes for the event.

使用lend過去的共軛的例子如下：

John lent me his bicycle.

The bank lent me the money needed to purchase the car.

He lent out his computer so he doesn’t have one right now.

這兩個詞的現在分詞的結構相似。對於借錢者來說，這就是借錢；對於借錢者來說，這就是借錢。

借用現在分詞的例子如下：

I am borrowing an umbrella since I do not own one myself.

She is borrowing her mother’s car.

Phil is borrowing the down payment from the bank.

使用現在分詞lend的例子如下：

George is lending his neighbor a lawnmower.

Adam is lending his brother some money.

Erica is lending her jacket to a friend.

為了進一步混淆掌握這些詞正確用法的能力，它們都有交替的含義，也可以用來表示其他的東西。例如，lend這個詞也可能意味著“適合或適用，適合”

以這種身份使用lend的例子包括：

The book was complex and therefore, did not lend itself well to a simple interpretation.

The tool was the wrong size and did not lend itself well for the task at hand.

The passage was very rhythmic and lent itself well to a musical adaptation.

借用這個詞的另一個意思可以在數學中找到。在減法中，它的意思是“從每分鐘的一個數字中減去（一），然後在下一個數字上加上十，這樣從每分鐘的十個數字中減去下一個大的數字，就得到了一個正的結果。”

這種用法的一個例子是：

When subtracting 7 from twenty-three, you must use the concept of borrowing since you cannot subtract 7 from 3.

正如你所見，藉詞和藉詞之間有許多相似之處。但可以用一個簡單的概念來概括。從本質上說，使用借出這個詞意味著你放棄了一些東西，使用借出這個詞意味著拿走一些東西，儘管這兩個詞都描述了一種臨時的安排。