- Borrow (verb) “take and use something belonging to someone else with the intention of returning it”
“May I borrow this book?”
“May I take this book out?”
The emphasis is on removing the item from the custody of the library for the permitted period in order to study it elsewhere
“I’d like to check this out”
A more recent phrase, American in origin, or possibly the supermarket check-out – the word “check” acknowledges that a validation will be made.
“May I have this?”
- Return (verb) “give, send or put back”
“I’m returning this”
“I’m bringing this book back”
“I’m giving this back”
The intent is clear – the book belongs to the library.
“Returning back”
“Back” is redundant as it is already understood in the definition, although you can return a book to the library
- Renew (verb) “extend the period for which a licence, subscription or contract is valid” ; in the library context :“extend the period of my loan”
“Renew, please”
“May I have this for another week (or whatever the borrowing period is)?”
“I would like to extend”
“Extend” usually means to make longer, in the physical sense as in extending a room” – but see the definition of “renew” and you’ll see they know the concept but not the word.
