James
Hi, everyone! We’re going to talk about three verbs with very similar meanings today: hire, rent and let. I’m mainly going to explain how we use these verbs in British English. But I will also mention some American usage too.
Both rent and hire mean ‘to pay for the use of something’. However, in British English we normally use the verb rent to talk about a long-term arrangement.
For example, you can rent a house, flat or TV.
When talking about a short-term arrangement, we normally use the verb hire. For example, you could hire a car, a bike or a suit. The difference in American English is that the verb rent can be used for both long and short-term arrangements.
The verb hire has a completely different meaning. It’s used to mean ‘to employ somebody.’
Finally, we have the verb let. You might hear this word in the phrase room to let, for example, which means that ‘the room is available to rent’.
Thanks for joining us everybody. Bye.
Hire vs Rent vs Let
These three words are all verbs. They all relate to paying for the use of something.
Hire
When talking about a short-term arrangement, we normally use the verb hire.
- We’ve decided to hire a car for the day.
- We’re going to hire a bouncy castle for my son’s party.
Rent
In English, we normally use the verb rent to talk about a long-term arrangement.
- We’re going to rent for the next few years, while we save for a deposit to buy our own house.
- A lot of people think that renting is a waste of money, but it means you have less responsibility.
Let
The word let means 'that you give permission to use some property, like a house, in exchange for regular payments'.
- My landlady is very fair and lets the house to use for a good price.
- There are more flats to let than to buy in this street.
bouncy castle -inflatable play equipment 공기를 주입해서 이용하는 놀이기구, 에어 미끄럼틀 등
landlady-woman who rents out property 여자주인, 집주인,