Lend past tense
Meaning of lend
to allow someone to use something temporarily, on the condition that it or its equivalent will be returned.
Infinitive
- 1. She always lends her books to anyone interested in reading.
- 2. He lends his expertise to the team without expecting anything in return.
- 3. The library lends equipment and resources to students for their projects.
Past Simple
- 1. He lent me his favorite book last month.
- 2. They lent their cottage by the lake for the weekend retreat.
- 3. She lent her expertise to the project, greatly improving its outcome.
Past Participle
- 1. The book has been lent to him by the local library.
- 2. A considerable amount of money was lent to her by her friends.
- 3. The gardening tools had been lent to the neighbors before the storm hit.
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Bare infinitive
- To indicate a habitual action.Example. 'I always lend my books to my friends.'
- To state a general truth or fact.Example. 'Banks lend money at different interest rates.'
- In fixed arrangements in the near future (often seen in formal contexts).Example. 'The library lends tablets and laptops for the day.'
Past Simple
- To describe an action that happened and was completed at a specific time in the past.Example. 'Yesterday, I lent my calculator to Jake.'
- In narratives to describe past events.Example. 'Last year, she lent her car to her brother, and he returned it damaged.'
- To discuss a repeated action in the past, often with a time expression.Example. 'When we were kids, he always lent me his video games.'
Past Participle
- In perfect tenses to describe actions that have an impact on the present.Example. 'I have lent him all the help I could.'
- In passive voice to describe an action where the focus is on the action and not who performed it.Example. 'A significant amount of money has been lent to the project by local investors.'
- In conditional sentences and some expressions.Example. 'If you had lent me the book, I would have read it by now.'
Common mistakes
— 01
Confusion between 'lent' and 'lended'
A common mistake is using 'lended' instead of the correct past simple and past participle form 'lent.' Some learners might incorrectly assume that adding '-ed' is the standard way to form the past tense for all verbs, leading to the erroneous creation of 'lended.' The correct forms are 'lend' for the present, 'lent' for both the past simple and past participle. For example, the correct usage is 'Yesterday, I lent him my book,' not 'Yesterday, I lended him my book.'
— 02
'Lent' as a present tense
Another mistake involves using 'lent' in the present tense, due to confusion with its correct tense forms. Because 'lent' is both the past simple and past participle form of 'lend,' some might mistakenly use it when they should use 'lend.' For instance, saying 'I always lent money to my friends when they need it' instead of the correct 'I always lend money to my friends when they need it.'
— 03
'Lent' in passive constructions
In passive voice constructions, some learners incorrectly use 'lent' where 'lent' is indeed correct but structure the sentence improperly. The correct form should follow the structure of 'be' verb + past participle. An example of a correct sentence is 'The book was lent to me by my friend,' not 'The book was lend to me by my friend.' This mistake stems from not recognizing 'lent' as the past participle needed for the passive voice or misapplying the base form of the verb.
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Frequently asked questions
What are the past simple and past participle forms of 'lend'?
How do you use 'lent' in a sentence as the past simple?
Can you give an example of how to use 'lent' as a past participle in a sentence?