3 ms·

I don't have an answer but English LOVES preposition-attached verbs. You can use lent and borrowed in both directions (I lent X to him; he lent X to me -- I bo

by zamfi 4y ago

I don't have an answer but English LOVES preposition-attached verbs. You can use lent and borrowed in both directions (I lent X to him; he lent X to me -- I borrowed X from him; he borrowed X from me) so the main difference is not in whether the verbs can be used bidirectionally, but in how you indicate the direction. I suspect Spanish (and maybe Polish) disambiguate in different ways, but disambiguate I'm sure they do!

dragonwriter 4y ago
> You can use lent and borrowed in both directions (I lent X to him; he lent X to me -- I borrowed X from him; he borrowed X from me) Those are both unidirectional: lent is always “the (possibly implicit) direct object moves from the subject to the indirect object prefaced with ‘to’” while borrowed is always “the (possibly implicit) direct object moves to the subject from the indirect object prefaced with ‘from’”. Birectional would be where the subject could be the source or recipient depending on, e.g., the preposition used to relate the other party as the indirect object.
marcus0x62 4y ago
English doesn’t have noun cases, so we have to use prepositions and word order to disambiguate.
mejutoco 4y ago
In your examples the direction seems to be the same. Or, more specifically, in regards to the verb the direction is the same. idk if there are regional exceptions, but in general borrow and lend seem more akin to learn and teach, respectively. The have an implicit direction: (from, in the case of borrow; to in the case of lend). I teached something from you today or I will learn you calculus in extracurricular classes don't work. In Spanish it is disambiguated in a similar way as you were mentioning (to me, to you) "Alquilo" translates literally to rent, so not really the same: - Me alquilas un piso. (you rent me a flat) - Te alquilo un piso. (I rent you a flat) I think a better translation to borrow/lend is "prestar/dejar: - Me prestas/dejas un lápiz. (you lend me a pencil/I borrow a pencil from you) - Te presto/dejo un lápiz. (I lend you a pencil/You borrow a pencil from me) Language is interesting!

by zamfi 4y ago

dragonwriter 4y ago

> You can use lent and borrowed in both directions (I lent X to him; he lent X to me -- I borrowed X from him; he borrowed X from me) Those are both unidirectional: lent is always “the (possibly implicit) direct object moves from the subject to the indirect object prefaced with ‘to’” while borrowed is always “the (possibly implicit) direct object moves to the subject from the indirect object prefaced with ‘from’”. Birectional would be where the subject could be the source or recipient depending on, e.g., the preposition used to relate the other party as the indirect object.

marcus0x62 4y ago

English doesn’t have noun cases, so we have to use prepositions and word order to disambiguate.

mejutoco 4y ago

In your examples the direction seems to be the same. Or, more specifically, in regards to the verb the direction is the same. idk if there are regional exceptions, but in general borrow and lend seem more akin to learn and teach, respectively. The have an implicit direction: (from, in the case of borrow; to in the case of lend). I teached something from you today or I will learn you calculus in extracurricular classes don't work. In Spanish it is disambiguated in a similar way as you were mentioning (to me, to you) "Alquilo" translates literally to rent, so not really the same: - Me alquilas un piso. (you rent me a flat) - Te alquilo un piso. (I rent you a flat) I think a better translation to borrow/lend is "prestar/dejar: - Me prestas/dejas un lápiz. (you lend me a pencil/I borrow a pencil from you) - Te presto/dejo un lápiz. (I lend you a pencil/You borrow a pencil from me) Language is interesting!