Learn how to ask to borrow something
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Borrowing Something From a British Friend. David here. |
| Kellie: Hello. I'm Kellie. |
| David: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for permission to borrow an item. The conversation takes place at Katrina’s flat. |
| Kellie: The speakers are friends. |
| David: So they will use informal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Katrina: Hey, Phil. I need to go to the library but it's a little far. Can I borrow your bike? |
| Phil: When do you need it? |
| Katrina: Um, now? I'll be back by 4pm. |
| Phil: I really need it back by 3.30pm as I have to go to school. |
| Katrina: Okay, 3.30pm is fine! |
| Phil: Don't be late! |
| Katrina: I won't! Thanks Phil, I owe you one. |
| David: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Katrina: Hey, Phil. I need to go to the library but it's a little far. Can I borrow your bike? |
| Phil: When do you need it? |
| Katrina: Um, now? I'll be back by 4pm. |
| Phil: I really need it back by 3.30pm as I have to go to school. |
| Katrina: Okay, 3.30pm is fine! |
| Phil: Don't be late! |
| Katrina: I won't! Thanks Phil, I owe you one. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: So Katrina wants to borrow Phil’s bike. Are bikes popular in the UK? |
| Kellie: They’re not as popular as in some other countries. The UK isn’t really designed for cyclists as it lacks in cycle paths. Things have improved for cyclists in the last decade or so, but there’s still a long way to go. |
| David: I don’t think it’d be easy to ride a bike too far in the UK. Too many busy roads and hills! |
| Kellie: That’s true! The UK doesn’t have many mountains, but it has many hills. |
| David: But some people ride bikes, right? |
| Kellie: Some do. There isn’t much bike parking around but there are some strict laws for cyclists to follow. |
| David: Laws? |
| Kellie: Yeah, cyclists have to wear a helmet and bikes should be on the road, not the pavement. |
| David: That sounds dangerous for cyclists, but I guess that’s why the helmet law is there. |
| Kellie: I think so. I think that all of these factors added together make people more likely to use a car or public transport. |
| David: I think I’d rather take the bus than bike it. |
| Kellie: Me too! |
| David: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| David: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Kellie: library [natural native speed] |
| David: a place where books are kept for use but not for sale |
| Kellie: library[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: library [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: far [natural native speed] |
| David: at a great distance away |
| Kellie: far[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: far [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: to borrow [natural native speed] |
| David: to take something with the intention of returning it |
| Kellie: to borrow[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: to borrow [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: bike [natural native speed] |
| David: short for bicycle, a type of transport that has two wheels |
| Kellie: bike[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: bike [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: when [natural native speed] |
| David: a question word for time |
| Kellie: when[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: when [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: late [natural native speed] |
| David: happening after the usual time or planned time |
| Kellie: late[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: late [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: promise [natural native speed] |
| David: a declaration that something will definitely be done or not done |
| Kellie: promise[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: promise [natural native speed] |
| David: And last we have.. |
| Kellie: to owe [natural native speed] |
| David: to have an obligation to someone |
| Kellie: to owe[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: to owe [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| David: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Kellie: little far |
| David: meaning "not close but not too far" |
| Kellie: This phrase is made up of two words. “Little” is an adjective that means small, and far means “not close”. Together, they mean that something is a distance away, but not so far that it causes major trouble. |
| David: So it’s not like going from London to Moscow, but more like going to the next town. |
| Kellie: Yeah. You can get there, but it’s a little inconvenient and maybe you’d rather go somewhere closer. |
| David: If I said something was a “little far”, maybe other people would feel sorry for me and change the location. |
| Kellie: Maybe! |
| David: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Kellie: Sure. For example, you can say.. The food is good, but it's a little far to walk to the cafe. |
| David: ..which means "The food is good, but the cafe is not close but not too far to walk." Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Kellie: I owe you one |
| David: meaning "Thanks, you helped me and I should do something to help you". This is more like an actual sentence or statement. |
| Kellie: It is, and it’s also a very handy phrase in casual situations. The verb “owe” was in the vocabulary section and it means to have an obligation to someone. |
| David: So it’s a casual way of saying that you are obliged to someone? |
| Kellie: Yeah. If somebody helps you out, such as by helping you carry heavy boxes and you want to acknowledge their help, you can say “Thanks, I owe you one!” |
| David: And then repay them somehow? |
| Kellie: Not necessarily. If a situation arises in the future you’ll probably help, but it’s not making a promise. It really is a casual phrase between good friends. |
| David: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Kellie: Sure. For example, you can say.. Thanks for giving me your lesson notes. I owe you one! |
| David: .. which means "Thanks for giving me your lesson notes. You really helped me and maybe I’ll help you back one day!" |
| David: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask permission to borrow an item. Katrina borrowed Phil’s bike in the dialogue, so let’s look at how she did that. |
| Kellie: We’re going back to modal verbs! We talked about them in Lesson 7, so let’s talk about them again. Do you remember what they are? |
| David: They are special verbs that can describe things such as potential and ability. It’s verbs like “must,” “shall,” and “should...” |
| Kellie: That’s right. We can also use them to ask for permission and the modal verbs we need for this are “can”, “could” and “may”. |
| David: How do we use them? |
| Kellie: Luckily, all three are used in the exact same way. Let’s start with “can”, as it is the most common. The sentence structure is the modal verb, plus a pronoun, like “I”, then a base verb and finally an object or complement. |
| David: In the dialogue Katrina said “Can I borrow your bike?” |
| Kellie: Yep. That’s the modal verb “can”, followed by the pronoun “I”, followed by the base verb “borrow” and then finally the object “your bike”. |
| David: Another example sentence is “Can I go home?” |
| Kellie: No, you can’t. But that is a good example sentence. “Can” plus pronoun plus verb plus object. |
| David: You said that “could” and “may” work the same? |
| Kellie: Just switch “can” for “could” or “may”. |
| David: Could I go home? May I go home? |
| Kellie: The difference is how polite and formal the words are. “Can” is the least formal, “could” is middle and “may” is the most polite and formal. For most conversations, “can” is fine. |
| David: Ok. Let’s move onto conjunctions. “May I go home as I’m tired?” |
| Kellie: The answer is still no, even though you asked politely and used the conjunction “as”. So, conjunctions are used to join two clauses together. “As” is what we call a subordinate clause, as it links the main clause “May I go home” with the subordinate clause “I am tired. |
| David: What does “as” mean? |
| Kellie: It’s similar to “because”. It lets us give a reason. You want to go home, because you are tired. If you were late for work because you had slept too long, you could say “I was late for work as I overslept.” |
| David: The main clause is “I was late for work” and the subordinate reason is “I overslept.” |
| Kellie: That’s it! “I didn’t read the new Stephen King novel, as I don’t like horror books.” |
| David: Main clause, “as”, subordinate clause. |
| Kellie: One last thing before we finish up for this lesson. Do you remember in Lesson 4 how we spoke about imperative sentences? Sentences like “shut the door” and “let’s go”? |
| David: Yeah, I do. |
| Kellie: We can also use imperative sentences to make recommendations and give reminders. “Don’t forget to bring my bike back!”. “Don’t be late”. |
| David: There are lots of sentences you can make with “don’t”. “Don’t get lost!” |
| Kellie: There are a few other words that can be used to make recommendations too. I’ll give you a nice example to finish on. “Always smile!” |
Outro |
| David: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Kellie: Bye. |
Comments
Hide