Confusing pairs of words
Borrow or lend, learn or teach, rob or steal, bored or boring. English pairs that match one Ukrainian or Russian word, and how to tell them apart.
The problem
Many ordinary Ukrainian and Russian verbs describe an exchange from both sides at once. Ukrainian позичити can mean giving money or receiving it; Russian одолжить works the same way. Вчити / учить covers both the student's work and the teacher's. The direction is clear from the case of the noun or from the context, so the language does not need a second verb.
English does need one. Borrow and lend, learn and teach are separate words, each fixed to one direction. If you use the wrong one, the sentence does not become vague; it describes the wrong side of the exchange. In Can you borrow me ten pounds? the verb belongs to the person who receives the money, not the one who gives it.
Other pairs in this lesson are not about direction but about a small difference in meaning or grammar that Ukrainian and Russian express with one word: fun and funny, job and work, bored and boring.
How English does it
Pairs about direction. Ask who gives and who receives.
| Word | Direction | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| borrow | you take, and will give back | borrow something from someone | I borrowed a pen from Anna. |
| lend | you give, and will get back | lend someone something | Anna lent me a pen. |
| learn | you receive knowledge | learn something; learn to do something | I am learning to drive. |
| teach | you give knowledge | teach someone something; teach someone to do something | Tom taught me to drive. |
| bring | towards the speaker | bring something here | Bring your laptop tomorrow. |
| take | away from the speaker | take something there | Take an umbrella with you. |
Pairs about meaning.
| Pair | Difference | Example |
|---|---|---|
| remember / remind | remember: keep in your own memory; remind: make another person remember | Remind me to call Anna. I will remember. |
| steal / rob | steal the thing; rob the person or place | They stole a car. They robbed a bank. |
| win / beat / earn | win a game or prize; beat an opponent; earn money by working | We beat them and won the cup. She earns a good salary. |
| fun / funny | fun: enjoyable; funny: makes you laugh | The party was fun. The film was funny. |
| bored / boring | bored: how you feel; boring: what causes the feeling | I am bored. The lecture is boring. |
| job / work | job: countable, a position; work: uncountable, the activity | She has a new job. I have a lot of work. |
| lose / loose | lose /luːz/: no longer have; loose /luːs/: not tight | Don't lose your keys. These jeans are loose. |
The -ed / -ing pattern of bored and boring applies to a whole family of adjectives: interested / interesting, tired / tiring, surprised / surprising, confused / confusing. The -ed form describes a person's feeling; the -ing form describes the thing or person that causes it.
Examples
- Can I borrow your dictionary for a day?
- My neighbour lent us his ladder.
- Anna taught her younger brother to swim.
- Please remind me to buy milk on the way home.
- Someone stole my bike from outside the library.
- Our team beat the champions and won the match.
- The trip was great fun, and the guide was really funny.
- Tom was bored because the lesson was so boring.
Common mistakes
- ✗ Can you borrow me some money?
✓ Can you lend me some money? / Can I borrow some money from you?
Позич мені / одолжи мне is one verb in both directions. In English the person who gives lends, and the person who receives borrows. - ✗ My mother learnt me to read.
✓ My mother taught me to read.
Вчити / учить covers both roles, but English learn is only what the student does. The person who explains teaches. - ✗ I am so boring at this lecture.
✓ I am so bored at this lecture.
Мені нудно / мне скучно describes your feeling, which is bored. I am boring means that other people find you dull. - ✗ Somebody robbed my phone.
✓ Somebody stole my phone. / Somebody robbed me.
You steal an object and rob a person, a shop or a bank. Russian украли телефон and ограбили меня already make this split, so match the verbs to them. - ✗ We won them three to one.
✓ We beat them three to one.
Виграти у / выиграть у takes the opponent, but English win takes the game or prize. The opponent is beaten.
Try it
- Could you ___ me your charger? (borrow / lend)
- Who ___ you to play the guitar? (learnt / taught)
- The film was so long and ___. (bored / boring)
- Two men ___ the bank yesterday. (stole / robbed)
- Please ___ me to send the email. (remember / remind)
- I'm looking for a new ___. (job / work)