借 meaning in English

jiè

to borrow; (used in combination with 給|给[gei3] or 出[chu1] etc) to lend

HSK 2verb10 strokes

Meaning of 借

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

jiè

to borrow
(used in combination with 給|给[gei3] or 出[chu1] etc) to lend
to make use of; to avail oneself of
(sometimes followed by 著|着[zhe5]) by; with

jiè

variant of 借[jie4]

How to use 借

借 (jiè) means both to borrow and to lend, and the sentence structure tells you which. 跟/向 someone 借 means borrow from them, while 借给 someone means lend to them: 你能借给我一支笔吗？(Nǐ néng jiè gěi wǒ yì zhī bǐ ma?) Can you lend me a pen? It also appears in 借口 (jièkǒu, excuse) and 借助 (jièzhù, with the help of).

借 has the person radical 亻 on the left and 昔 (xī, former times) on the right. Picture a person asking for something they had in former times and want to use again: they borrow it.

Common mistake: Learners often mix up borrowing and lending. 我借他一本书 is ambiguous, so say 我跟他借了一本书 (I borrowed a book from him) or 我借给他一本书 (I lent him a book). Also do not confuse 借 with 惜 (xī, to cherish), which has the heart radical 忄 instead of the person radical 亻.

借 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

我wǒ不bù想xiǎng再zài听tīng到dào其qí他tā借jiè口kǒu了le。

I don't want to hear any more excuses.

你nǐ不bù应yīng该gāi借jiè钱qián给gěi这zhè样yàng的de人rén。

You should not have lent the money to such a person.

我wǒ能néng借jiè一yī下xià您nín的de自zì行xíng车chē吗ma？

May I borrow your bike?

你nǐ介jiè意yì把bǎ你nǐ的de车chē借jiè给gěi我wǒ吗ma?

Would you mind lending me your car?

我wǒ问wèn汤tāng姆mǔ能néng不bù能néng借jiè他tā的de车chē。

I asked Tom if I could borrow his car.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

借 jiè · to borrow · 10 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 借.

借鉴	jièjiàn	to draw on (others' experience); to learn from (how others do things)
借口	jièkǒu	to use as an excuse; excuse; pretext
借用	jièyòng	to borrow sth for another use; to borrow an idea for one's own use
借助	jièzhù	to draw support from; with the help of
凭借	píngjiè	to rely on; to depend on
借条	jiètiáo	receipt for a loan; IOU
借给	jiègěi	to lend to sb
借钱	jièqián	to borrow money; to lend money
借此	jiècǐ	using this as a pretext; thereby
借过	jièguò	excuse me (i.e. let me through, please)
借着	jièzhe	by means of; through; with the help of
借款	jièkuǎn	to lend money; to borrow money

Questions about 借

What does 借 mean?

借 (jiè) means "to borrow; (used in combination with 給|给[gei3] or 出[chu1] etc) to lend" and is used as a verb.

How do you write 借?

借 is made of 1 character: 借 (10 strokes). That is 10 strokes in total.

Is 借 an HSK word?

Yes. 借 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 借 and 租?

借 (jiè) means to borrow or lend, usually for free. 租 (zū) means to rent, which involves paying, as in 租房子 (zū fángzi, to rent an apartment).

How do you say borrow money in Chinese?

Say 借钱 (jiè qián). For example, 我想跟你借点儿钱 (Wǒ xiǎng gēn nǐ jiè diǎnr qián) means I would like to borrow some money from you. A written IOU is called a 借条 (jiètiáo).