How to Say “Can I borrow your _ ?” in Japanese

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.