Borrow vs. Lend in Portuguese: Emprestar or Pegar Emprestado?
Emprestar can mean lend or loan; add pegar emprestado to make clear that you are the borrower.
Real Life Portuguese · 5 min read · Updated October 15, 2026
The short answer
Emprestar means to lend or loan something. The sentence context identifies who gives the item and who receives it, so include the person when that might be unclear.
Use emprestar from the lender’s perspective
Você pode me emprestar sua caneta?
Can you lend me your pen?
Emprestei meu guarda-chuva para a Ana.
I lent my umbrella to Ana.
Use pegar emprestado to emphasize borrowing
Pegar emprestado literally means to take on loan and makes the borrower’s perspective explicit. The participle emprestado agrees with the item: emprestada, emprestados, emprestadas.
Posso pegar seu livro emprestado?
Can I borrow your book?
Peguei umas ferramentas emprestadas com meu vizinho.
I borrowed some tools from my neighbor.
Include who gives and who receives
Portuguese often uses de or com to name where an item was borrowed from, and para to name the recipient when lending. If the item is important, agree on when it will be returned.
Peguei esse carregador emprestado com a Júlia.
I borrowed this charger from Júlia.
Posso devolver o livro na sexta-feira?
Can I return the book on Friday?
Put it into practice
Think of emprestar as lend or loan, and use pegar emprestado when you want to clearly say borrow.
Quick practice
Which Portuguese example matches “I borrowed this charger from Júlia”?
Choose an answer to check yourself.
Keep practicing with the Real Life Portuguese app
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