How do you say “Can I borrow your pen?” in Japanese?
Today’s phrase is :
Can I borrow your _ ?
_ 借りてもいい?
karitemoii
If you want to ask politely, you can say :
_ 借りてもいいですか?
karitemo iidesuka
- Can I borrow …? = … 借りてもいい? karitemoii
- your … = あなたの … anatano
When you want to say “Can I borrow your _ ?”, put a noun just before “借りてもいい” or “借りてもいいですか”.
For example, if you want to say “Can I borrow your pen?*”, you can say like this :
*pen = ペン pen
ペン借りてもいい?
pen karitemoii
Or politely :
ペン借りてもいいですか?
pen karitemo iidesuka
(あなたの)ペン
(your) pen
+
(わたしは)借りてもいい
can (I) borrow
We do not usually say “わたしは watashiwa (= I)” or “あなたの anatano (= your)” in everyday conversation.