Episode 0355

Hello everyone and welcome to English Pod.

My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine and today we're tackling a very difficult issue for many English learners. We're talking about taking things from other people and giving them back.

That's right. So today we are going to talk about money and we're going to lend money and borrow money. And we're going to talk more about this after we listen to the dialogue.

Can I borrow five bucks?

No.

I promise if you lend me $5 today, I will repay you in full next week.

Okay. But I'm taking your skateboard as collateral.

It's nothing personal. Just business.

All right, so now let's take a look at that language on language takeaway.

So first up we have the key verbs for today, the verb to borrow and to lend.

Now, this is a really important difference to make because many people make this mistake where they use the wrong verb.

That's right.

Now, if I ask you, Marco, can I borrow your bicycle?

Uh-huh.

That means can I take your bicycle from you? And then later I'll give it back. But I want to use it.

Right. So the verb is kind of reflexive, it's going on to you. You want to borrow.

I want to borrow. I want to take it from you for a short time and then I want to give it back.

So to borrow.

Right.

Now the other verb is to lend and that on the other on the other hand goes from me to you. So you borrow my bicycle.

I lend you my bicycle. I give it to you.

That's right. So another way of asking can I borrow is, can you lend me?

Right.

Your bike. That means can you act? Can you do this thing for me?

So there's two different ways of saying it and it's very important to remember who is doing what.

Exactly. So remember the person taking is borrowing, the person giving is lending.

So it's not correct and remember to and it's not correct to say can you borrow me your bicycle?

That's not right.

No, can you lend me like can you lend me a hand? Can you help me?

Right.

So remember this, to borrow is something I do. I want to borrow from you. It's the it's the person, the subject in the sentence, but in the case of lending, someone else is doing it. So can you lend to me or can you lend it to him? You have to say who it's being lent to.

Exactly. And as you said who it's being lent to. So the past tense of lend is lent.

Yeah, so Marco lent me his bike last week and I broke it. So now I have to pay him a lot of money.

You have to pay me five bucks and that's their next word. Bucks.

Bucks.

Now, this is a slang term, so this is something we say very casually in America when we want to talk about dollars.

Right. So one buck is one dollar.

Uh-huh.

100 bucks is $100.

All right.

Now, as you said it's very American. You wouldn't really use it like uh, I don't know if you're in Britain, you wouldn't say 100 bucks.

No, you would say quid.

Quid.

So they don't have dollars, so they don't say bucks, not in England.

All right. Very good.

So we wanted to borrow $5.

And, well, he's and that person promised to pay you back on Tuesday. I'll pay you back on Tuesday.

All right, so this is a lot like that verb to lend. To lend him, to pay you, you have to say who you're going to pay, right?

Okay.

That means I will give you money for it tomorrow.

So if you borrow money, you have to pay it back.

All right. So, I want to borrow $5. I promise I will pay you back Thursday.

Very good.

Okay. And now lastly, we will lend money, but of course, we need a guarantee, we need something to make sure that you will pay me back. So that's called collateral.

All right. Now collateral is important because sometimes you can't you can't trust someone.

Uh-huh. Like you say Marco.

And so, for example, if I want to rent a bicycle, so I want to use it for the day, maybe there's a store that they rent bicycles to people. I would give my passport or my driver's license as collateral because I will definitely return to take my that driver's license or passport back. So that's that's basically a a sign of a promise.

Right, money or identification or some object.

That's right. So usually, for example, if you're going to get a very big loan at the bank, they will ask you for some something as collateral. So maybe you will have to give them your house as collateral. So you're saying if I can't pay you back, then you can take my house.

That's right. So collateral is the last word in language takeaway.

Can I borrow five bucks?

No.

I promise if you lend me $5 today, I will repay you in full next week.

Okay, but I'm taking your skateboard as collateral.

It's nothing personal. Just business.

All right, we're back. So let's take a look at these phrases on fluency builder.

So Marco, these are two friends talking and the way they talk to each other is very casual, right?

So we hear at the beginning, uh, can I borrow five bucks? No. Come on.

Right.

So what is this come on?

Come on. It's it's a persuasive phrase. It's one of those phrases where you're trying to convince or persuade people.

And you can use it as an interjection in many situations. So, for example, here, come on, lend it to me. Lend me some money. I'll pay you back. You're trying to convince that person.

Please.

Yeah, exactly.

But what about, uh, this situation? I'm running late. I have to go and, uh, my friend, she's still sitting at her desk maybe at work and she's taking forever. I say, come on, let's go.

Right, it's like hurry up. Move it.

All right, so it's a way of getting someone to do something. You want them to follow you.

Exactly.

And now talking about money again, the person promised to repay the money. He said I'll pay you back on Tuesday.

But then he also said, I will repay you in full next week.

In full. Now, remember, this is important. I will repay you in full.

That means I won't repay you a little bit and then a little bit later. I will repay you everything next week.

Right, exactly. So, if you have to pay or repay someone in full, you have to give them the entire amount, not just a part of it.

That's right. In full. Full means everything.

And the final phrase is the very last line of today's dialogue. It's nothing personal. It's just business.

I think this is a a common phrase when that people use when maybe doing business with friends or people you know, you know, maybe you're asking for collateral and the guy's like, I can't believe you don't trust me. I'm your brother. And you're just like, it's nothing personal. It's just business.

It's a way to say, listen, this is not about you and me, this is about my rules. When I give something to someone, I always ask for collateral. So it's just business. It's just my my way of doing this.

Exactly. So it's a good phrase to use if you're doing maybe business with a a friend and of course, maybe you're setting these rules and the friend, maybe your friend feels a little bit offended, you say, hey, it's nothing personal, it's just business.

Nothing personal. So, that's the last phrase. Let's take a listen to the dialogue again and we'll be right back.

Can I borrow five bucks?

No.

I promise if you lend me $5 today, I will repay you in full next week.

Okay, but I'm taking your skateboard as collateral.

It's nothing personal. Just business.

All right, so lending money, borrowing money. Now, as you as we mentioned,

uh, sometimes you have people that ask you for money now, did you ever have that friend that always asked you for money and never repaid you?

Yes.

Like a dollar at a time, hey, can I borrow a dollar? Can I borrow $5?

Yeah, always. And uh actually this friend, he would borrow $10. And he would say, oh, oh, oh, I'll I'll buy you a coffee tomorrow. I say what? A $10 coffee? I don't think so. So it was always uneven. I paid more and he never repaid me in full. In full.

Right. Yeah.

So, yeah, and actually, I think, um, if you add up all those little that little amount of money that maybe some friends borrowed from you, it would be a quite a decent amount. I had many friends who would be like, hey, can I borrow a dollar or, you know, even like 25 cents at a time, it would add up over time.

Exactly.

So, um, what do you call these people? The the that the word in English that's a slang word is called a mooch.

A mooch.

A mooch. Right.

He's a mooch. It means he's always taking money from people or asking other people to pay for his dinner or staying at someone's house. So a mooch is someone who tries to get things for free.

Right. That's exactly it. I I had friends like this that would for food as well, like maybe I brought my lunch. This is in school obviously.

And they would mooch off me like half my sandwich or half my juice.

That's yeah, that's mooch behavior.

So that's the verb to mooch off someone.

Yeah, to mooch off someone. But it's also a noun. He's a mooch. He's a mooch.

Very interesting stuff. Maybe you have a friend that was a mooch or maybe even yourself back in the day. So let us know how it works in your country. If you lend money to people, family members, do you ask for collateral?

Or do you just forget about it?

Let us know our website is englishpod.com.

The English pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

To take or have something temporarily.

Borrow.

Dollar.

Box.

To give something to someone temporarily.

Lend.

Payback.

Repay.

Confident expectation of something. Hope.

Trust.

Security pledged for the payment of a loan.

Collateral.

Let's try that faster.

Payback.

Repay.

To take or have something temporarily.

Borrow.

Confident expectation of something. Hope.

Trust.

To give something to someone temporarily.

Lend.

Dollar.

Box.

Security pledged for the payment of a loan.

Collateral.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Borrow.

Can I borrow your bike?

Borrow.

I forgot I borrowed your jacket last week.

Borrow.

I'm sorry, you can't borrow my DVD player.

Lend.

If I lend you my bike, will you give it back tomorrow?

Lend.

My dad lent me his car.

Lend.

Did I lend you my snowboard?

Repay.

I have to repay this debt before the end of the month.

Repay.

I am still waiting for you to repay me for these damages.

Repay.

I can't repay the bank because I lost my job.

Trust.

You need to trust people a little bit more.

Trust.

If you want my trust, you have to earn it.

Trust.

My dad always told me to trust no one and doubt everything.

Collateral.

In order for me to get a loan, I have to sign over my house as collateral.

Collateral.

If you have no collateral, it's hard to get a loan.

Collateral.

My dad offered his car as collateral in order to get this loan.