Several days ago, Hana raised to distinguish the three words, rent, hire and lease, here I’d like to share something with us for the above words.

When the three words acted as a verb, all have the meaning of ‘出租’, however, there are still some differences between them, listing as follows:

rent, v. 1. rent sth (from sb) pay for the occupation or use of (land, premises, a telephone, machinery, etc) 租借或租用 (土地、房屋、电话、机器等)

rent a holiday cottage from an agency 向代理公司租用度假村舍

Do you own or rent your video? 你的录像机是自己的呢,还是租来的?

2. rent sth (out) (to sb) allow sb to occupy or use (land, premises, a telephone, machinery, etc) in return for payment将(土地、房屋、电话、机器等)出租给某人

Mr Hill rents this land (out) to us at $500 a year.希尔先生把这块地租给我们,租金每年500美元。

3. rent (at/for sth) be let at a specified rent 以一定租金出租

an apartment renting for $900 a month

每月租金为900美元的一套公寓

hire, v. 1. hire sth/sb (from sb) obtain the use of sth or the service of sb temporarily and especially for a short period of time, in return for payment 租用(某物);雇用(某人)

hire a bicycle, hall, wedding-dress, 租自行车,礼堂,结婚礼服

2. hire sth (out) (to sb) allow the temporary use of sth, in return for payment 出租某物

We hire out our vans by the day, ie at a cost of a certain amount per day. 我们按日出租客货车(按日计租)。

lease, v. least sth (to/from sb) grant or obtain the use of (sth) in this way 出租;租得

lease a car, building, field 租汽车、房子、土地

n. contract by with the owner of land, a building etc allow another person to use it for a specified time, usually in return for rent (土地、房屋等的)租约、租契

take out a lease on a holiday home 租妥一所度假住宅

From the above explanation, as we can see, ‘hire sth’ usually means to use something temporarily and in return for payment, however, ‘rent sth’ means to use something long time and in return for payment. For the word ‘lease’, usually to use some valuable assets, i.e., land, building, car, field ect.