Prestar or pedir prestado: to lend or to borrow
English keeps 'lend' and 'borrow' apart, and so does Spanish. The catch: the second of the two is a phrase, not a verb. Prestar is to give your own thing away. Pedir prestado is to ask for somebody else's. For example: “¿Me prestas el coche este fin de semana?” — Will you lend me the car this weekend?. A rule from the Spanish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
English keeps 'lend' and 'borrow' apart, and so does Spanish. The catch: the second of the two is a phrase, not a verb. Prestar is to give your own thing away. Pedir prestado is to ask for somebody else's.
The grammar shows the role. Prestar works like dar, with the person in a short pronoun: te presto el coche, le presté el libro. Pedir prestado puts the thing straight after it. The owner comes in with a: le pedí prestado el coche a mi hermano. The participle agrees with the thing: pedí prestados veinte euros.
For small things Spain says dejar instead: ¿me dejas el boli? Where money is concerned, prestar and pedir prestado stay in place.
Table
| who does what | in Spanish | example |
|---|---|---|
| I give my own thing | prestar | te presto veinte euros |
| I take someone else’s | pedir prestado | pedí prestados veinte euros |
| to whom I give | a short pronoun | le presté el libro |
| from whom I take | the preposition a | se lo pedí prestado a mi hermano |
| the everyday "lend" | dejar | ¿me dejas el móvil? |
| the classic mistake | prestar taken as "take" | "presté el coche a mi hermano" means YOU were the giver |
By example
- ¿Me prestas el coche este fin de semana?Will you lend me the car this weekend?
- Le pedí prestado el coche a mi hermanoI borrowed the car from my brother
- ¿Me dejas el boli un momento?Can I have your pen for a moment?
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Prestar vs pedir prestado?
English keeps 'lend' and 'borrow' apart, and so does Spanish. The catch: the second of the two is a phrase, not a verb. Prestar is to give your own thing away. Pedir prestado is to ask for somebody else's.
How to say borrow twenty euros in Spanish?
The grammar shows the role. Prestar works like dar, with the person in a short pronoun: te presto el coche, le presté el libro. Pedir prestado puts the thing straight after it. The owner comes in with a: le pedí prestado el coche a mi hermano. The participle agrees with the thing: pedí prestados…
What me dejas means?
For small things Spain says dejar instead: ¿me dejas el boli? Where money is concerned, prestar and pedir prestado stay in place.
Me prestas or me dejas?
For small things Spain says dejar instead: ¿me dejas el boli? Where money is concerned, prestar and pedir prestado stay in place.
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“¿Me prestas el coche este fin de semana?” — Will you lend me the car this weekend?. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.