Ich leihe meiner Schwester heute meinen Regenschirm.

I am lending my sister my umbrella today.

Breakdown of Ich leihe meiner Schwester heute meinen Regenschirm.

• ich: I
• heute: today
• mein: my
• der Regenschirm: the umbrella
• die Schwester: the sister
• leihen: to lend

Questions & Answers about Ich leihe meiner Schwester heute meinen Regenschirm.

Does leihen mean “to lend” or “to borrow”?

Both, depending on who the subject is:

• If the subject gives something: jemandem etwas leihen = to lend someone something. Example pattern: Ich leihe meiner Schwester etwas.
• If the subject takes something: sich (Dat.) etwas leihen (von jemandem) = to borrow something (from someone). Example pattern: Ich leihe mir etwas von meiner Schwester.

Why is meiner Schwester in the dative case?

Because with verbs of giving/handing like leihen, the recipient is the indirect object and takes dative. The thing lent is the direct object and takes accusative. So:

• Recipient (indirect object) → dative: meiner Schwester
• Thing (direct object) → accusative: meinen Regenschirm

Why is it meiner (not meine or meinem) before Schwester?

Schwester is feminine singular, and it’s in the dative case here. Possessive determiners (like mein-) take:

• dative feminine: -er → meiner Schwester
• dative masculine/neuter: -em
• accusative feminine: -e So meiner matches feminine dative.

Why is it meinen Regenschirm (not mein Regenschirm or meinem Regenschirm)?

Regenschirm is masculine singular and functions as the direct object, so it’s accusative masculine. Possessive determiners take -en in accusative masculine: meinen Regenschirm.

• If it were neuter: mein Kind (no ending in acc. neuter)
• If it were feminine: meine Tasche (acc. fem -e)

Can I put heute somewhere else? Which positions sound natural?

Yes. Common, neutral options:

• Heute leihe ich meiner Schwester meinen Regenschirm.
• Ich leihe heute meiner Schwester meinen Regenschirm.
• Ich leihe meiner Schwester heute meinen Regenschirm. Placing heute at the very end (… meinen Regenschirm heute) is possible but sounds more marked or contrastive.

Can I swap the order of the two objects?

Yes, when both are full nouns, both orders work:

• Ich leihe meiner Schwester meinen Regenschirm. (very typical)
• Ich leihe meinen Regenschirm meiner Schwester. (also fine) With two nouns, German often prefers dative before accusative, but word order is flexible and can reflect emphasis.

What happens if I replace the objects with pronouns?

Pronouns tend to come earlier, and when both objects are pronouns, the usual neutral order is accusative pronoun before dative pronoun:

• Ich leihe ihn ihr (heute). = I lend it to her.
• With neuter object: Ich leihe es ihr. Reversing them (ich leihe ihr ihn) is possible for emphasis, but the neutral pattern is acc → dat.

How do I say that I’m borrowing my sister’s umbrella?

Use a reflexive dative (yourself as the recipient) and optionally add the source with von:

• Ich leihe mir heute ihren Regenschirm (von meiner Schwester / von ihr). If you just say Ich leihe heute ihren Regenschirm, context usually implies you’re borrowing it.

What’s the difference between leihen, ausleihen, verleihen, borgen, and ausborgen?

• leihen: general word for lend/borrow depending on construction.
• ausleihen: emphasizes lending/borrowing for a period; very common with libraries and everyday items. Separable: Ich leihe das Buch aus. Past: ausgeliehen.
• verleihen: to lend out (often a bit more formal) or to award (e.g., a prize: einen Preis verleihen).
• borgen: lend/borrow; more colloquial/regional in Germany.
• ausborgen: common in Austria and southern regions for borrow/lend out. All are understood; preferences vary by region and formality.

How do I form the past tenses of leihen?

It’s irregular:

• Preterite (simple past): ich lieh, du liehest/liehst, er/sie/es lieh, wir/sie liehen, ihr lieht.
• Present perfect: ich habe … geliehen. Example: Ich habe meiner Schwester meinen Regenschirm geliehen.

Do I need a preposition like English “to” for the recipient?

No. German marks the recipient with dative case, no preposition:

• Ich leihe meiner Schwester … Using für changes the meaning (for someone’s benefit) and is not how you mark the indirect object here.

How do I negate this sentence naturally?

Options depend on what you negate:

• Not lending at all: Ich leihe meiner Schwester heute keinen Regenschirm. (use kein- with the noun)
• Not today (time focus): Ich leihe meiner Schwester heute nicht meinen Regenschirm, sondern morgen.
• Not to her (recipient focus): Ich leihe heute nicht meiner Schwester meinen Regenschirm, sondern meinem Bruder.
• Not that item (object focus): Ich leihe meiner Schwester heute nicht meinen Regenschirm, sondern meinen Mantel.

What are the genders and plurals involved, and how do they affect case?

• die Schwester (feminine), plural die Schwestern. Dative plural adds -n: meinen Schwestern.
• der Regenschirm (masculine), plural die Regenschirme. These genders determine endings on the possessives: meiner Schwester (dat. fem), meinen Regenschirm (acc. masc), meine Regenschirme (acc. pl).

Can I front heute and still keep correct word order?

Yes. German main clauses are verb-second. If you front heute, the finite verb still stays in second position:

• Heute leihe ich meiner Schwester meinen Regenschirm. Here, heute occupies the first position, leihe stays second, and the subject ich follows.

Why is there no article with the possessives here?

Possessive determiners like mein- already occupy the determiner slot. You don’t add a definite/indefinite article before them:

• meiner Schwester, meinen Regenschirm (correct) Using an article plus possessive (like English “the my …”) is not standard in German, except in special contrastive constructions not relevant here.