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How do you say 'borrow' in English? You never forget the English you failed at

2026年7月29日 10:38

Hello.
I am Aya, a natural stone & word creator
.

Since I have over 20 years of experience as an English instructor, I also write about English on note from time to time.

This time, I will introduce how to use words that beginner-level students often say, 'Oh, I didn't know that.'

When I have lessons with beginner-level students, I often notice that they are surprisingly unaware of words learned in junior high school, or that even if they know the meaning, they cannot immediately recall them in conversation.

Conversely, there are also words that don't appear much in textbooks but make conversation much easier once you know them.

This time, I will introduce some of that English along with a little failure story from when I lived in Vancouver.

Is 'borrow' the right word for 'to rent'?

In Stanley Park in Vancouver, there were all kinds of people: people dashing along on rollerblades, people jogging, people on bicycles, and people just taking a leisurely stroll.

What caught my eye the most was the rollerblading. The sight of them gliding through the wind was so cool that my friend and I had been longing to try it for a long time.

And then, one weekend

'Let's try rollerblading!!'

We both got excited and headed to a rental shop near the park.

Me: Can I borrow rollerblades?

Clerk: No, you can't. But you can rent them.

I panicked, thinking, 'What? I can't borrow them?' but the clerk taught me the difference between 'borrow' and 'rent'.

'Borrow' is for when you borrow something without paying money. It's for situations like borrowing a book from a friend.

I borrowed a book from my friend.

'Rent' is for when you borrow something by paying money. It is used when renting a car, for example.

I rented a car.

Since you pay money to rent rollerblades, 'rent' is the correct word, not 'borrow'.

The clerk's reply meant, 'You can't borrow them for free, but you can rent them.'

Since that day, I have never been confused about the difference between 'borrow' and 'rent'.
You never forget the English you learned by making a mistake.

Let me know.

I also remember well what the clerk said to me while I was wearing the rollerblades.

Let me know if you need any help.
(Let me know if you need any help.)

'Let me know' means 'please tell me' or 'please inform me'.

It comes up extremely often in conversation.

Let me know if you have any questions.
(Let me know if you have any questions.)

Let me know when you are free.
(Let me know when you are free.)

There isn't a single difficult word in it, but it's a phrase that beginner students don't know.

half an hour

Well, we rented rollerblades, but we couldn't skate at all.

We tried rollerblading for half an hour.

'half an hour' means '30 minutes'. If you translate it literally, it's 'half of an hour', so the logic is simple, but
many students can understand '30 minutes' but cannot catch 'half an hour'. However, if you start using it yourself, it will start to sound natural to your ears.

hard

After struggling for about 30 minutes, we decided to give up.

But we gave up because it was too hard.

In addition to 'solid', 'hard' also means 'difficult' or 'tough'.

This math problem is hard.
(This math problem is difficult.)
It was a hard day.
(It was a tough day.)

In Japanese, we sometimes call machines 'hard,' but this is a Japanese-made English term abbreviated from 'hardware,' and the English word 'hard' does not have that meaning.

Here, too hard means 'too difficult.'

When translating 'very' into English, many beginners use 'very,' but in this situation, 'too' is a better fit. While 'very' simply emphasizes the degree, 'too' implies a result of 'too much, so it didn't go well.'

It was very hard, but we kept going.
(It was very difficult, but we kept going)

It was too hard, so we gave up.
(It was too difficult, so we gave up)

Since this story is about 'it was too difficult, so I gave up,' 'too' is perfect.

After giving up,

In the end, I gave up on rollerblading after 30 minutes.

After that, I went to a nearby beach cafe with a friend for tea, and that is where I met my current husband.

'Give up' doesn't have a positive ring to it. But if I hadn't given up on rollerblading back then, I wouldn't have stopped by the cafe.

There are places you only reach because you quit something. It was that kind of experience.

Oh, but please don't give up on learning English!😉

ARYA

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