Money Actions — B1 Essential Words

borrow /ˈbɒrəʊ/ verb B1 Money

Meaning: To take and use something belonging to someone else, with their permission, and return it later.

Example: Can I borrow your pen?

Another example: He borrowed money from the bank.

Collocations: borrow from · borrow a book · borrow money

Synonyms: take (temporarily), use, loan (noun/verb, banks)

Antonyms: lend, steal, keep

Word family: borrower (n) · borrowing (n) · borrowed (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: YOU borrow FROM someone; THEY lend TO you — perspective flips the verb. 'Borrow' from a bank formally becomes a loan.

🗣 In spoken American English: Libraries turn it into civilization's kindest system.

Register: Neutral — money essential.

lend /lend/ verb B1 Money

Meaning: To give something to someone for a limited time, expecting it back; banks lend money at interest.

Example: She lent me her car for the weekend.

Another example: Banks lend money to businesses.

Collocations: lend to · lend money · lend a hand (help)

Synonyms: loan, give (temporarily), let use

Antonyms: borrow, keep, take

Word family: lent (past) · lender (n) · lending (n)

⚠ Common mistake: 'Lend a hand' means help — no objects change hands. Past tense is LENT, never 'lended'.

🗣 In spoken American English: Libraries and neighbors run on it; banks charge for it.

Register: Neutral — money essential.

owe /əʊ/ verb B1 Money

Meaning: To have to pay or give someone something because you borrowed it or received a service; also to be grateful for something.

Example: I owe him fifty dollars.

Another example: She owes her success to her teachers.

Collocations: owe money · owe to · owe an apology

Synonyms: be in debt to, have to repay

Word family: owes (v) · owed (adj) · owing (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Money and gratitude share it: 'I owe you an apology / my career'. 'IOU' is its written nickname (I Owe You).

🗣 In spoken American English: Its three letters carry half of all friendship tension.

Register: Neutral — money essential.

repay /rɪˈpeɪ/ verb B1 Money

Meaning: To pay back money that you owe; to do something good in return for kindness.

Example: She repaid the loan in two years.

Another example: How can I repay your kindness?

Collocations: repay the loan · repay in full · repay kindness

Synonyms: pay back, return, refund (a purchase)

Antonyms: borrow, owe

Word family: repayment (n) · repayable (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Repay is pay back with a suit on — banks and contracts use repay; friends say pay back.

🗣 In spoken American English: Kindness repaid is the plot of half of all stories.

Register: Formal — money essential.

donate /dəʊˈneɪt/ verb B1 Money

Meaning: To give money, goods, blood, or organs freely to help people or a cause.

Example: She donates books to the library.

Another example: Thousands donated after the flood.

Collocations: donate to · donate blood · donate money

Synonyms: give, contribute, grant

Word family: donation (n) · donor (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Blood and organ donors give the literal gift of life; money donors get buildings named. Both use this verb.

🗣 In spoken American English: Food banks stack its boxes by the ton each winter.

Register: Neutral — society essential.

wage /weɪdʒ/ noun B1 Money

Meaning: The money a worker is paid for each hour, day, or week of work (usually for manual or service jobs); also to fight a war or campaign.

Example: The minimum wage rose this year.

Another example: Factory wages are paid weekly.

Collocations: minimum wage · a fair wage · hourly wage

Synonyms: pay, earnings, salary (monthly, office)

Word family: wages (n pl) · wage (v)

⚠ Common mistake: Wages come weekly for work hours; a SALARY comes monthly for professional jobs. Politics fights over the 'minimum wage' yearly.

🗣 In spoken American English: 'Wage war' is the verb twin — armies and campaigns are waged.

Register: Formal — work essential.

wealth /welθ/ noun B1 Money

Meaning: A large amount of money, property, and valuable things owned by a person, family, or country; also a large amount of something good.

Example: The family's wealth came from shipping.

Another example: The library holds a wealth of information.

Collocations: wealth of · family wealth · wealth and health

Synonyms: riches, fortune, assets

Antonyms: poverty

Word family: wealthy (adj) · wealthier (comparative)

⚠ Common mistake: Wealthy describes people; 'rich' describes people, food, and colors. 'A wealth of' introduces any abundance — data, experience, detail.

🗣 In spoken American English: Tax codes define it; novels chase it.

Register: Formal — money essential.

fortune /ˈfɔːrtʃən/ noun B1 Money

Meaning: A very large amount of money; also luck and the future events in a person's life.

Example: He made a fortune in software.

Another example: The painting is worth a fortune.

Collocations: make a fortune · a small fortune · fortune teller

Synonyms: wealth, riches, luck

Antonyms: poverty, misfortune

Word family: fortunes (n pl) · fortunate (adj — lucky) · unfortunately (adv)

⚠ Common mistake: Money and luck share it: fortunes are made and told. 'Fortune favors the bold' is its most quoted fortune-cookie sentence.

🗣 In spoken American English: Lottery ads sell the money sense; psychics sell the luck one.

Register: Neutral — money essential.

auction /ˈɔːkʃən/ noun / verb B1 Money

Meaning: A public sale where things are sold to the person who offers the highest price; to sell something this way.

Example: The painting sold at auction for a million.

Another example: They auctioned the old farmhouse.

Collocations: at auction · auction house · online auction

Synonyms: public sale, bidding sale

Word family: auctions (n pl) · auctioneer (n)

⚠ Common mistake: eBay taught the world its rules. The AUCTIONEER's fast chant is its famous soundtrack — and a listening challenge for learners.

🗣 In spoken American English: Charity auctions sell dinners with celebrities for school roofs.

Register: Neutral — money staple.

bid /bɪd/ verb / noun B1 Money

Meaning: To offer a price for something at an auction or in business; the price offered. In cards, to declare how many tricks you will win.

Example: She bid $500 for the painting.

Another example: Their bid won the contract.

Collocations: bid for · a bid of · the highest bid

Synonyms: offer, tender (business), propose

Word family: bids (n pl) · bid (past — same form) · bidder (n) · bidding (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Companies bid for contracts; guests bid at auctions; cities bid for the Olympics. Past tense is BID — unchanged.

🗣 In spoken American English: 'Farewell' old books: 'I bid you goodnight' — the goodbye twin sense.

Register: Formal — money and business.