Headword
Language French · second language of borrow · the Borrower is the subject · the Theme is the direct object · the Source is à + a noun, or the dative clitic lui (plural leur) · the same à marks the Recipient of prêter. A route and a loanword stay off the loan frame. The first language is borrow · leihen. No English page.
Borrower, Theme, Source · à is direction-neutral · the verb fixes source against goal · Duration unranked · a rate unprinted on the loan lines read · French cloth · working claim, revisable
Voice[Borrower] + Themedirect object + à+NP / lui·leurSource
emprunter qqch à qqn · the Borrower is the subject · the Theme is the direct object · the Source is the à-phrase or the dative clitic · prêter qqch à qqn uses that same à for the Recipient
Older loan cloth · de + person · Académie vieilli · Larousse: no longer the loan construction · not the current Source
A borrowing, on this reading, has a Borrower, a Theme, and a Source. Voice adds the Borrower. The root’s object is the Theme, a direct object. The Source is an à-phrase, or the dative clitic that stands for that phrase. The TLFi’s loan frame is a person as subject, a concrete thing as direct object, and a second complement in de (vieilli) or in à, naming the person one borrows from. The definition there is Recevoir à titre de prêt. Académie 9 prints Emprunter quelque chose à quelqu’un. Larousse’s current loan construction is emprunter à. That wording is the definition’s. It is not an endpoint claim. A time expression is printed on one Larousse line and is not ranked as an argument or as an adjunct. A rate is not in the loan lines read here.
What is different from the English gloss, from prêter, and from German leihen. English borrow is a different verb from lend, and the source is from. French also uses two lemmas. It does not use a separative preposition for the current loan. The Source of emprunter is à, and the Recipient of prêter qqch à qqn is the same à. The à-phrase and the dative clitic lui / leur do not say which way the thing goes. The verb does. German leihen keeps both directions on one lemma: a reflexive dative, co-indexed with the subject, selects borrow, and a dative that is another person selects lend. The German source is von or bei, not that dative. French has no reflexive on the loan frame. Dropping nothing inside emprunter turns it into prêter. The lemma is already the other verb. Which phrase is the structural object is the note Causative templates and argument selection. This page does not edit that note.
No printed loan line of emprunter stacks the Borrower, the Theme, the Source, a time expression, and a rate. Académie 9’s frame is quelque chose and à quelqu’un. The TLFi’s France line has the clothes and à la citoyenne Blaise. Beauvoir has lui and the books. Camus has lui and the tie. Larousse’s car line has me and pour la journée. The bank lines have à and the money, and no clitic.
Printed loan frame · subject Borrower · direct-object Theme · Source à
✓ Emprunter quelque chose à quelqu’un ou, vieilli, de quelqu’un. Académie française, 9e édition · à is the current person · de is labeled vieilli
✓ Sa mère emprunta une robe rayée, un fichu, une coiffe de dentelle à la citoyenne Blaise. TLFi · France, Les dieux ont soif · the à-phrase is the person one borrows from
the Borrower is the subject · English borrow uses from for that person · French à is the same preposition as the Recipient of prêter
Dative clitic · the Source, not a second direct object
✓ les livres que je lui avais empruntés TLFi · Beauvoir · lui is the Source · empruntés agrees with les livres
✓ lui emprunter une cravate noire TLFi · Camus · dative lui · the tie is the Theme · no à-phrase in the same clause
✓ Il m'a emprunté ma voiture pour la journée. Larousse · sense 1 · me is the Source · pour la journée is the time phrase on that line
✓ Je vous emprunte votre stylo. Le Robert · vous is the Source · the pen is the Theme
lui is printed · leur is the plural of that clitic · leur is unprinted on the loan lines read · a doubled clitic and à-phrase in one clause is unprinted
Money · the bank is the same à · not a second preposition
✓ Emprunter de l'argent à un ami, à une banque, à une maison de crédit. Académie 9 · one à for the friend and for the bank
✓ Emprunter de l'argent à la banque. Larousse · sense 2 · Le Robert prints à une banque
German bei der Bank is a second preposition beside von · French does not split the bank off à
Other senses · a route · a word · off the returnable Theme
✓ Utiliser une route, une voie pour circuler. Veuillez emprunter le passage souterrain. Emprunter une voie, une rue. Larousse · sense 4 and the difficultés · the object is the way · no person-source
✓ Empruntez le passage souterrain. nous emprunterons l'autoroute. Emprunter une rue. Académie 9 · sense 5 · TLFi · the way or the means of transport is the direct object
✓ Ce mot est emprunté au latin. Un mot emprunté à l'anglais. les mots empruntés au grec. Académie 9 · sense 2 · Le Robert · TLFi, linguistic · à is the language, not a person who lends a thing back
the route has no Source person · the loanword keeps à, and the source is a language · neither sense is the returnable Theme
| Place | Introduced by (working) | French marking | Status in the sources | English and German marking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borrower | Spec,Voice | subject of emprunter | TLFi: the subject is a person · Académie, Larousse, and Le Robert print that subject on the loan sense · no reflexive | subject of borrow · subject of the borrow frame of leihen, where a reflexive dative is co-indexed with that subject |
| Theme | complement of the root | direct object (quelque chose, une robe, les livres, de l'argent, votre stylo) | Académie · TLFi · Larousse · Le Robert · a money theme is that one object · Beauvoir’s empruntés agrees with a preceding direct object · the agreement is the participle the line prints · it is not an endpoint claim | direct object of borrow · accusative of leihen |
| Source · à | preposition · the current person, and the bank | à + noun (à quelqu'un, à la citoyenne Blaise, à une banque, à la banque) | Académie 9 · TLFi France · Larousse · Le Robert · the same à marks the Recipient of prêter · the preposition does not choose the direction | from · German von or bei + dative · not the German dative of the other person |
| Source · clitic | dative clitic of that à-phrase | lui · me · vous · plural leur | lui is Beauvoir and Camus · me is Larousse · vous is Le Robert · leur is the plural of lui and is unprinted on the loan lines read · the clitic and a full à-phrase are not stacked in those lines | from him / from them · not a bare object of borrow · not the reflexive sich |
| Source · de | older preposition of a person | de quelqu'un · de mon ami · de mon oncle | Académie 9 labels de quelqu'un vieilli · Larousse says de is no longer in use for obtaining something as a loan, and quotes Littré’s j'ai emprunté mille francs de mon ami · TLFi marks de vieilli and prints the 1835/1878 Académie line de mon oncle | from looks like this older cloth · it is not the current French loan construction |
| Lender as a bare noun beside the Theme | not a printed frame | no second bare object | the printed person is inside à or is a dative clitic · a bare emprunter Pat le livre is unprinted | English borrow Pat the book is not the gloss · German lend is a bare dative on leihen, which is the other frame of that one verb |
| Duration | unranked | pour la journée on Larousse’s car line | printed as a time expression · argument versus adjunct unprinted · not in the Académie frame · not given a seat in the formula | for the day · same open status · German duration stays on the lines that print it, not on this French formula |
| Collateral | not the Source and not a rate | sur gages · sur hypothèque | Académie 9, absolute use · TLFi’s sur is a gage · not filed as the person and not filed as a percent | not from · not German bei der Bank |
| Interest | not in the loan lines read | unprinted on emprunter in the entries opened | à intérêt is printed on prêter · it is not copied onto this verb | the German rate mit, zu 5 % Zinsen is the lend numeration of leihen |
| Route | another sense · the way is the direct object | une route, une voie, une rue, l'autoroute, le passage souterrain | Larousse sense 4 · Académie 9 sense 5 · TLFi Emprunter une rue · Le Robert’s synonym row for that sense is passer par, prendre, suivre · no person in à on those lines | take a road · not borrow a road from |
| Loanword | another sense · à is a language | un mot + à + language (au latin, à l'anglais, au grec) | Académie 9 sense 2 · Le Robert · TLFi, linguistic · Larousse’s difficultés file un terme emprunté au latin under the usual à · the thing is not given back as a coat or a sum | a word borrowed from a language · English still uses from · French still uses à |
Marking map. Read the verb first, then the à. On emprunter the subject is the Borrower and à / lui is the Source. On prêter the subject is the Lender and à / lui is the Recipient. Nothing in the preposition or the clitic records that flip. de plus a person is the older loan cloth. The bank is à, not a second preposition. A street, a motorway, or an underpass is the direct object of another sense, with no person. A word taken from a language keeps à, and the source is the language.
Each row lines up one English slot with a French slot, and names the German slot where the direction split differs. The alignment type says what happens to the slot: = (same object status), or shift (French à where English has from, or one preposition where German has a reflexive and another preposition). Printed lines come first. Every other French sentence is constructed, modelled on a printed line. They show the working alignment, not frequency, and not a bilingual corpus.
| Slot | EN form | FR form | Align | EN example | FR example |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borrower | SUBJ of borrow | subject of emprunter | = for the subject · a different lemma from lend and from prêter | to borrow something from somebody English gloss of the Académie frame | Emprunter quelque chose à quelqu'un Académie 9 |
| Theme | OBJ | direct object | = | borrow a coat gloss of the France line | une robe rayée, un fichu, une coiffe de dentelle TLFi · France |
| Source · à | from | à + noun | shift · same preposition as the Recipient of prêter · the verb fixes the role | borrow from someone gloss | à la citoyenne Blaise TLFi · France · à une banque Académie 9 |
| Source · lui | from him / from her | dative lui | shift · the clitic is the Source · not a second direct object | the books I had borrowed from him gloss of Beauvoir | je lui avais empruntés TLFi · Beauvoir |
| Source · leur | from them | dative leur | plural of lui · unprinted on the loan lines read | borrow from them gloss of the plural clitic | Chris leur emprunte les livres. constructed · leur is not a dictionary line here |
| Recipient of prêter | to of lend · a different verb | the same à or lui | shift of role · the marker stays · the lemma changes | lend somebody something gloss | Prêter qqc. à qqn TLFi · lend page |
| German reflexive | unprinted | unprinted | German sich selects borrow on leihen · French selects it by the lemma | — | sich etwas von, bei jemandem leihen borrow · German |
| Route | take | direct object = the way · no Source | separate sense | take the underpass gloss | emprunter le passage souterrain Larousse · Académie 9 |
| Loanword | borrowed from a language | à + language | separate sense · à again, not from | a word borrowed from English gloss of the Robert line | Un mot emprunté à l'anglais Le Robert |
EN · FR · printed Source in à
borrow something from someone
emprunta une robe … à la citoyenne Blaise
FR · TLFi · France · the à-phrase is the Source · EN gloss is from, not a second French preposition
Move English from · French à · the same à is a Recipient on prêter
EN · FR · printed dative clitic
the books I had borrowed from him
les livres que je lui avais empruntés
FR · TLFi · Beauvoir · lui is the Source · the participle agrees with les livres · EN gloss constructed from that line
Move dative clitic · not a reflexive · leur is the unprinted plural
FR · same à, other verb
lend something to someone
Prêter qqc. à qqn
FR · TLFi · prêter · the à-phrase is the Recipient · see lend · prêter
Move the marker does not flip · the lemma does
DE · reflexive, not à
borrow something from her
er lieh sich von, bei ihr ein Buch
DE · WDG · on leihen · the reflexive dative selects borrow · the source is another preposition
Move German splits the direction inside one lemma · French splits the lemma and keeps à
Argument difference against the lend page and against German. Lend · prêter files the subject as the Lender and the à-phrase as the Recipient. This page files the subject as the Borrower and that same à-phrase as the Source. English Pat lent Chris the book and Chris borrowed the book from Pat are two verbs, and the second preposition is from. French can print both directions as à, on two lemmas. German leihen can print both directions on one lemma: sich against a dative that is another person, and the source in von or bei. A French à-phrase does not become a source by being reflexive. There is no reflexive on this frame.
Dictionary frames and lines · checked · quoted as printed
Recevoir à titre de prêt. A second complement in de (vieilli) or in à names the person. TLFi · emprunter A · cnrtl.fr/definition/tlfi/emprunter
Emprunter quelque chose à quelqu'un ou, vieilli, de quelqu'un. Emprunter de l'argent à un ami, à une banque. Académie française, 9e édition · dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9E1218
Se faire prêter quelque chose par quelqu'un. Il m'a emprunté ma voiture pour la journée. Emprunter de l'argent à la banque. Larousse · senses 1 and 2 · the par is the definition’s paraphrase · the example’s Source is me · larousse.fr · emprunter
Emprunter de l'argent à une banque. Je vous emprunte votre stylo. Un mot emprunté à l'anglais. Le Robert · dictionnaire.lerobert.com/definition/emprunter
j'ai emprunté mille francs de mon ami Larousse, quoting Littré · older de · not the current loan construction
Emprunter sur gages, sur hypothèque. Académie 9 · absolute · collateral · not a person and not a rate
Strings below are constructed, modelled on the printed lines. They are not spontaneous-speech citations and not dictionary lines. Chris and Pat continue the named-participant series on prêter. A name does not spell a preposition. à Pat follows Académie 9’s à quelqu'un. lui follows Beauvoir and Camus. leur is the plural of that clitic and is not in the lines read.
✓ Chris emprunte le livre à Pat.
constructed · modelled on Académie 9 Emprunter quelque chose à quelqu'un · the same string is the constructed gloss already used on the lend page
✓ Chris lui emprunte le livre.
constructed · lui modelled on Camus and Beauvoir · the full Theme modelled on Académie 9 · no à-phrase in the same clause, because the printed clitic lines do not stack one
✓ Chris leur emprunte les livres.
constructed · leur is the plural of the printed lui · unprinted on the loan lines read · not a second role
✓ Pat prête le livre à Chris.
constructed · the lend frame · modelled on TLFi Prêter qqc. à qqn · not a borrow line · the à-phrase is the Recipient · the lend page is prêter
* Chris emprunte Pat le livre.
constructed · not a dictionary line · the printed person is à or a dative clitic · a bare second object is unprinted
Each sketch is a working drawing, not a locked analysis. The drawing gives the Borrower to Voice and the Theme to the root. The Source stays in à or in the dative clitic. The lend drawing on the lend page gives that same marker to the Recipient and names the subject the Lender, on prêter. The German borrow drawing gives the subject a reflexive dative and puts the source in von or bei. Open one sketch at a time.
One external argument · the other person is not co-indexed with it
[VoiceP Chris Voice ← Borrower = Spec,Voice
[VP
[√emprunter-
[Theme le livre ]
[PP à Pat ]]]] ← Source · à · not a Recipient
✓ Emprunter quelque chose à quelqu'un. Académie 9
The subject is the Borrower once. English borrow also spells that participant once, and puts the other person in from. French puts the other person in à. Beauvoir’s lui is that same Source as a clitic. It is not a reflexive pointing back at je.
Other lemma · the à-phrase is the Recipient · working, revisable
[VoiceP Pat Voice ← Lender · not the Borrower
[VP
[√prêter-
[Theme le livre ]
[PP à Chris ]]]] ← Recipient · the same à
✓ Prêter qqc. à qqn. TLFi · lend sense
This is the frame lend · prêter describes. The direct object can be the same book. The à-phrase cannot be read off the preposition as a source, because prêter fixes it as the Recipient and emprunter fixes it as the Source. German does the split with sich against a non-reflexive dative, on leihen, and does not use the dative as the source.
Working paper · October 2026 · French micro-entry · Beyond Index 2
Borrowing in French is a second lemma, not a reflexive on prêter. The Borrower is the subject. The Theme is the direct object. The Source is à plus a noun, or the dative clitic lui. Plural leur is that clitic’s plural and is unprinted on the loan lines read. The same à and the same clitic mark the Recipient of prêter. The marker does not say which way the thing goes. The verb does. de plus a person is the older loan cloth. A route and a word taken from a language are other senses.
Not a flat grid of four sisters. Voice adds the Borrower. The root takes the Theme. à or the dative clitic adds the Source. A time expression stays unranked. A rate stays on prêter, where the dictionaries print it.
What French changes, against English borrow from, is the preposition. English changes the verb and uses from. French changes the verb and uses à, the preposition that also marks the Recipient of prêter. What French changes, against German leihen, is the lemma and the absence of a reflexive. German keeps one verb, marks borrow with sich, and puts the source in von or bei.
Dictionary frames: TLFi emprunter on CNRTL; Larousse; Académie française, 9e édition; Le Robert. The France, Beauvoir, and Camus lines are the TLFi’s quotations. Littré’s de mon ami is Larousse’s quotation of the older construction. Constructed clauses put Académie 9’s à, or the printed clitic lui, on Chris. The leur string is the unprinted plural. The prêter string is the lend frame. Index 2 does not list emprunter. French Transfer in Index 2 is échanger, donner.
Records the subject Borrower, the direct-object Theme, and the Source of emprunter in à or in dative lui, with leur as the unprinted plural. Records that same marker as the Recipient of prêter, so the direction is in the verb. Records de plus a person as vieilli. Records the bank as the same à. Records a route and a loanword as other senses. Records the split against English borrow from and against German reflexive leihen. Does not open an English page.