One of my friends wants to make sentences with lend and borrow. And he needs someone to help him with the sentences as below:
Would you mind lending her some money?
Don’t let her borrow in public from her mouth.
Does anybody understand what it means?
Thank you!!!
First sentence, yes.
Second sentence, no, unless for laughs (but even then I don’t understand). The words are similar in meaning but more or less just from different viewpoints. You lend her some money. She borrows money from you. Borrow is on the receiving end. Lend is on the “giving” end. You give her some money (with expectation of getting it back). She “receives” some money (with the expectation of giving it back).
So the second sentence…what would she be receiving in public from her mouth? It’s also a little weird to borrow something from herself.
Is he trying to say, Don’t let her borrow (the money) in public? In other words, don’t let her be seen to be receiving money because maybe a thief is watching and might want to take it from her?
I saw this link…maybe it will explain better than I did. End Your Confusion about Borrow and Lend
Wow, I found it quite helpful. Thank you so much, ericb100.
Thank you for helping me understand what he meant.
I asked him and he told me the rough idea.
The situation is like three people are having dinner at a restaurant.
When it comes to splitting the bill, one of them (Sherry) is short of 30 dollars.
Let’s say the meal costs 100 dollars, and my friend just has 110 dollars, not enough to cover or lend the one (Sherry). So he asks the other one (Jeff) if he could lend her some.
I’m guessing why he wants to say the second sentence is to offer the help beforehand, not wait for her to ask. Or maybe she’s embarrassed to ask.
So it is okay to say the second sentence like this, I’m afraid she’s embarrassed to ask to borrow from us.
Or there’s a better way you suggest?
Thank you again!!!
I think your sentence works. Lily.