# Renting And Hiring In American English, British English, And Spanish **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 20, 2019, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563 "2019-09-20T14:33:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/1 "2019-09-20T14:33:06Z")
In America you **rent** housing, storage or retail space, either as the money payer or the money recipient. You would figure out which based on context. “I rent a nice bungalow on Maple street.” = Speaker likely pays the rent money. “I rent five different houses and a couple of retail spaces.” = Speaker likely receives the rent money. In the UK, you **let** housing, and I assume also storage space, retail space, etc. Is that true (about the other spaces, or do you only let housing)? Does the same word apply to whether you’re paying the money or receiving the money? Also in the US, you **rent** equipment, like a car or a carpet-cleaning machine or a bouncy castle for your child’s birthday party. In the UK you **hire** such equipment. My translator app gives me the Spanish verbs _alquilar_ and _rentar_, and I assume they’re used interchangeably? Or is there a usage based on context, like renting space vs. renting equipment (letting vs. hiring in British English). Also in Spanish, does the verb change based on if you’re paying the money vs. receiving it? In American English, you **hire** someone for a short job or a long one. “I hired a plumber” (short job) or “I hired a new cook” (long job). Do you use the word “hire” in this context in the UK? And as for Spanish, my translator app gives _contratar_ - is it used in both contexts? And finally, a bonus Spanish question: babysitting. Translator gives me _cuidar_ (to use caution). Is this correct? What is the noun form (babysitter)? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/2 "2019-09-20T14:40:52Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > In America you **rent** housing, storage or retail space, either as the money payer or the money recipient. You would figure out which based on context. > > “I rent a nice bungalow on Maple street.” = Speaker likely pays the rent money. > “I rent five different houses and a couple of retail spaces.” = Speaker likely receives the rent money… I can only speak for USA usage. There is a lot of ambiguity in these statements. Using the phrase “I rent _out_…” might remove some of it. It’s a lot like saying, “I sold a house across town…”. Does this mean I was the owner and seller, or the agent who listed the property for sale, or the agent who found a buyer for the transaction?" ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/3 "2019-09-20T14:50:12Z")
In the U.S. you can also ‘lease’ a car, wherein you have use of the car for a fixed term (36 - 60 months typically) and make monthly payments. I’d be curious to know if the same expression is used in the U.K. or Australia (or if this arrangement even exists there). In the U.S. if you rent a car, it’s for a few days or a week, like on a vacation. For Spanish, I think that ‘alquilar’ is standard Spanish, and ‘rentar’ is Spanglish. I see lots of signs advertising “basement para renta” around here. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/4 "2019-09-20T14:58:16Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > “I rent five different houses and a couple of retail spaces.” = Speaker likely receives the rent money. In the US, I have never heard this usage. I have only heard “I _rent out_ five different houses.” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/5 "2019-09-20T15:00:06Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > My translator app gives me the Spanish verbs _alquilar_ and _rentar_, and I assume they’re used interchangeably? Or is there a usage based on context, like renting space vs. renting equipment (letting vs. hiring in British English). Also in Spanish, does the verb change based on if you’re paying the money vs. receiving it? _Alquilar_ is “standard” Spanish (i.e., you actually find it in the dictionary with that meaning), _rentar_ is a direct loan from English (while the word is in the dictionary, it’s not with that meaning); they both mean the same and are recognized in every dialect, but some dialects are more likely to use one or the other. _Arrendar_ means the same but in most dialects it is at a higher cultural level: a legal document is highly likely to use arrendar, but someone speaking is unlikely to use it (some dialects do use _arrendar_ more frequently than _alquilar_ or _rentar_). What changes is the noun: the person who owns the goods is the _arrendador_, the person receiving them is the _arrendatario_, but both are _arrendando, alquilando_ or _rentando_ the goods. This leads to conversational bits such as: _Tenía alquilado el piso de mi abuela…_ (I had my grandmother’s flat in rental…) _¿Que vivías, o que el alquiler lo llevabas tú?/¿Como arrendadora o como arrendataria?_ (You lived there, or you managed the rental?) _Que vivía./Como arrendataria._ (I lived there). There is a specific mode for renting machinery called _renting_ (hello English, mind if we borrow this word? Thankyamuchas). Leasing a car is _leasing_ (or _lísin_), renting one for a few days is _alquilar/rentar/arrendar_ again. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/6 "2019-09-20T15:10:01Z")
A babysitter can be called _la béibisiter_ (or, if you can spell English,\* la babysitter\*); in Spain a nanny/frequent babysitter is called _niñera_ and the official name for an infrequent babysitter would be _niñera ocasional_. But, there are some people who feel like saying their kid has a _niñera_ (even if the _niñera_ is grandma) is “giving themselves airs” and they tend to prefer the borrowed term. Other dialects will use one or the other depending on social perception etc. _Cuidar_ is to take care of: _cuidador_ or _cuidadora_ can work for babysitter but also for grandmasitter or for housesitter or for… ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/7 "2019-09-20T16:12:42Z")
It gets better. I\* rent\* an apartment, but I sign an document called a lease. When I hire a car for short-term use, I rent it, and sign a\* rental agreement/contract\*. But when I hire the same car for long-term use, I sign a\* lease\*, and I use _“lease”_ as a verb. I suspect this all has something to with the concept of short-term vs. long-term in the U.S. vs. U.K. And in the U.S. we don’t hire objects, we hire people. So we would rent a car, but hire a car and driver. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/8 "2019-09-20T16:20:06Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > In American English, you **hire** someone for a short job or a long one. “I hired a plumber” (short job) or “I hired a new cook” (long job). Do you use the word “hire” in this context in the UK? And as for Spanish, my translator app gives _contratar_ - is it used in both contexts? I thought I’d answered this one but apparently I managed to eat it with the edits. Yes, we use the same word. It is also the same word when you hire a company('s services): _acabo de contratar internet para el piso_ (I just got internet for my flat). For bonus points, a contract is a _contrato_ and a contractor is a _contratista_; a subcontractor is a _subcontratista_ or _subcontrata_ (this version is more frequently found in Spain than in other areas). In dialects from Northern Spain or with a lot of influence from these, industrial subcontracting is _maquilar_, and those companies which manufacture under other people’s label are _maquiladoras_. US usage of maquiladora tends to imply lousy working conditions; in Spanish it refers to whether the factory does part or all of their work under somebody else’s brand and has nothing to do with working conditions. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/9 "2019-09-20T16:27:05Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > In the U.S. you can also ‘lease’ a car, wherein you have use of the car for a fixed term (36 - 60 months typically) and make monthly payments. I’d be curious to know if the same expression is used in the U.K. or Australia (or if this arrangement even exists there). In the U.S. if you rent a car, it’s for a few days or a week, like on a vacation. That’s the same in the UK, but it’s also common to “hire” a car for a short period. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/10 "2019-09-20T16:29:20Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > US usage of maquiladora tends to imply lousy working conditions; in Spanish it refers to whether the factory does part or all of their work under somebody else’s brand and has nothing to do with working conditions. Part of that, I suspect, is that, to the extent that the word _maquiladora_ gets used here in the US at all (it’s not a common term here), it’s in the context of factories in Latin America (particularly Mexico) which make products for the US market under preferential trade agreements. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/11 "2019-09-20T16:43:35Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > In the UK, you **let** housing, and I assume also storage space, retail space, etc. Is that true (about the other spaces, or do you only let housing)? Does the same word apply to whether you’re paying the money or receiving the money? The landlord lets or rents the property, the tenant rents. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/12 "2019-09-20T18:04:09Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > The landlord lets or rents the property, the tenant rents. Yep, that’s it. Letting something is what the owner does, not the borrower. I’d say for equipment you can either rent or hire it. Cars are usually hire cars, and I suppose the last time I tried to get a piece of large equipment for the garden I’d have said that I hired it. But I think there’s a fair amount of crossover - you used to go to the shop called Radio Rentals to rent or hire a TV. Zimaane - cars on lease do exist in England too, and the terms used are the same. They’re less common than in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/13 "2019-09-20T18:34:08Z")
This is an area where English is just weird. For what it’s worth, Garner’s Modern American Usage says that in American English, “rent” and “lease” are “both used for what the tenant does and the landlord does.” In British English, the landlord leases and the lessor rents, so it’s unambiguous. But, Americans, in my experience, generally resolve this ambiguity by using the term “rent out” for the British “lease” and reserving the unadorned “rent” solely for what the tenant does. Garner implicitly endorses this formulation in Black’s Law Dictionary (which he also edits), by defining “let” as “to offer (property) for lease, to rent out.” In my experience, landlords all talk about “renting out” a unit. If someone said to me only, “I’m renting a beach house for the summer,” or “I rent a place in New York,” I’d assume that they were going to be a tenant, not that they were a property owner collecting rent. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/14 "2019-09-20T20:20:03Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Yep, that’s it. Letting something is what the owner does, not the borrower. > > I’d say for equipment you can either rent or hire it. Cars are usually hire cars, and I suppose the last time I tried to get a piece of large equipment for the garden I’d have said that I hired it. But I think there’s a fair amount of crossover - you used to go to the shop called Radio Rentals to rent or hire a TV. > > Zimaane - cars on lease do exist in England too, and the terms used are the same. They’re less common than in the US. Thanks. Another small difference - in the U.S. we sale a car is ‘for lease’ rather than ‘on lease’. BTW, to my American ears ‘hiring’ an object sounds quite strange. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/15 "2019-09-20T22:23:34Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > BTW, to my American ears ‘hiring’ an object sounds quite strange. Yes, it seems that in the US one only “hires” a person, not an object. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/16 "2019-09-20T22:36:37Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > In the U.S. you can also ‘lease’ a car, wherein you have use of the car for a fixed term (36 - 60 months typically) and make monthly payments. I’d be curious to know if the same expression is used in the U.K. or Australia (or if this arrangement even exists there). In the U.S. if you rent a car, it’s for a few days or a week, like on a vacation. Australian follows English, as modified by international companies, American media, and a recent migration total now pushing towards 50% of the population. Whatever you say, it’s in use here. Houses are traditionally “To Let”, but I’ve seen “For Rent” signs, which are probably speaking to Chinese immigrants – no need for a new word for the letting process when after they’ve signed the rental or lease agreement they’ll have to pay rent for the house they are renting. While I’m here: the term “Hire-purchase” has fallen almost completely out of use. If you are doing salary-sacrifice to buy a car with pre-tax income, what you get is a novated lease. If you are buying a car with post-tax finance, you’re just buying it. Unless you’re a company - because leases are treated differently than capital expenditure for tax purposes. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/17 "2019-09-20T23:01:47Z")
In British English, the only difference between ‘hire’ and ‘rent’ is how they are used in practice. I would hire a car (or a horse) short term or lease one for a longer-term (there are many kinds of leases), but I would rent a flat or a house (I would sign a rental agreement, not a lease). I would hire staff, but not rent them and if I was a landlord I would be ‘renting out’ property. Signs outside houses for rent invaiable say “To Let” and the person who would deal with it would be a letting agent working for an estate agent. Aint English wonderful…🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/18 "2019-09-20T23:04:35Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > In the U.S. you can also ‘lease’ a car, wherein you have use of the car for a fixed term (36 - 60 months typically) and make monthly payments. I’d be curious to know if the same expression is used in the U.K. or Australia (or if this arrangement even exists there). In the U.S. if you rent a car, it’s for a few days or a week, like on a vacation. It is the same in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/19 "2019-09-20T23:12:50Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Yes, it seems that in the US one only “hires” a person, not an object. Yes, when you occasionally see a phrase that looks like someone is “hiring” an object, it implies that you are hiring a person who “comes with” the object. For example, if I “hire a limo” for my daughter’s prom - I’m hiring the driver rather than renting the limo to drive it myself. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/20 "2019-09-20T23:13:32Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > In the US, I have never heard this usage. I have only heard “I _rent out_ five different houses.” This. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563.md?page=2)