借りる
かりる
kariru
= to borrow; to rent; to hire
Kariru (借りる) is a verb every Japanese learner needs early on — it covers borrowing a friend’s pen, renting an apartment, and hiring a car, all under one word that flips the perspective from kasu (to lend).
Kariru is an ichidan (Group 2) verb meaning to borrow, to rent, or to hire from someone else’s perspective. The key grammar point is that the item being borrowed is marked with wo and the lender is marked with ni or kara: Tomodachi ni hon wo karita (I borrowed a book from a friend). For rentals — apartments, cars, DVDs — kariru is equally natural: kuruma wo kariru (to rent a car). Its partner verb is kasu (貸す, to lend), so knowing one makes the other intuitive. The polite past form okari shimashita is common in business contexts when acknowledging borrowed resources or taking inspiration from someone’s idea.
The most common learner confusion is mixing up kariru (to borrow / rent, from the borrower’s side) and kasu (to lend, from the lender’s side). A memory trick: kariru sounds like it starts with “can I” — the borrower asking permission. Also note that kariru does not mean “to borrow time” the way English allows — use jikan wo morau or simply chotto ii desu ka? for that.
借 (kari) is made up of 人 (person) on the left and 昔 (mukashi, old/past) on the right — the character conjures the idea of something from the past that belongs to another person, temporarily in your hands. This pairing with 人 reinforces that borrowing is inherently a social transaction.
Everyday use
図書館で本を三冊借りた。
Toshokan de hon wo sansatsu karita.
I borrowed three books from the library.
Casual / Social Media
充電器忘れた…誰か貸してくれない？あ、もう借りれた！
Juudenki wasureta… dareka kashite kurenai? A, mou karireta!
I forgot my charger… can anyone lend me one? Oh, I already found someone to borrow from!
Formal / Cultural context
弊社はその会議室を月額契約でお借りしております。
Heisha wa sono kaigishitsu wo getsugaku keiyaku de o-kari shite orimasu.
Our company rents that conference room on a monthly contract.
The relationship between lending and borrowing — kasu and kariru — reflects a broader cultural awareness in Japan of social debt and obligation. Borrowing something creates a temporary imbalance that is expected to be resolved, which is why Japanese has a rich vocabulary around returning things: kaeshi ni iku (to go return something) and the phrase okari shite ite, arigatou gozaimashita (thank you for letting me borrow it). Returning borrowed items promptly and in good condition is considered basic social decency.
In the context of renting property, kariru is central to everyday urban life. Japan’s rental market is dense, particularly in cities like Tokyo and Osaka, and the process of ie wo kariru (renting a house or apartment) involves a complex set of upfront fees — including shikikin (security deposit) and reikin (key money) — that make the act of borrowing a home a significant financial and social commitment.