VOA一分钟英语：辨析表示 “租” 的动词 hire, rent, let

英国人在表示 “租” 的意思时，常常会用到动词 “hire、rent” 和 “let”，但这三个词语所表达的意思和使用的场景却不同。在英式英语中，与 “短租” 和 “长租” 相对应的分别是两个不同的动词；在美式英语中，动词 “hire” 的含义又和 “租用东西” 完全不同。
 
Hi, everyone! We’re going to talk about three verbs with very similar meanings today: hire, rent and let.
I’m mainly going to explain how we use these verbs in British English. But I will also mention some American usage too.
Both rent and hire mean ‘to pay for the use of something’. However, in British English we normally use the verb rent to talk about a long-term arrangement.
For example, you can rent a house, flat or TV.
When talking about a short-term arrangement, we normally use the verb hire.
For example, you could hire a car, a bike or a suit.
The difference in American English is that the verb rent can be used for both long and short-term arrangements.
The verb hire has a completely different meaning. It’s used to mean ‘to employ somebody’.
Finally, we have the verb let. You might hear this word in the phrase room to let, for example, which means that ‘the room is available to rent’.
Thanks for joining us, everybody. Bye.
 
用法总结
1 在英式英语中，“rent” 可以表示 “长期租赁”，比如 “rent a house（租房子）”；“hire” 可以表示 “短期租用”，比如 “hire a bike（租自行车）”；而 “to let” 的搭配可以表示房屋、房间 “可供出租”。
I’m going to rent this new flat.
He’s renting this huge screen for commercial use.
Did you hire a car to get here?
She hired a gown to attend the wedding.
Here is a room to let.
 
2 在美式英语中，“rent” 用来表示无论时间长短的 “租用”。
I’m going to rent this new flat.
Did you rent a car to get here?
 
3 在美式英语中，“hire” 不可以表示 “租用”， 只能表示 “雇佣” 某人。
She hired me to do the job.
 
4 美式英语一般使用 “for rent” 来表达 “可供出租”。
Here is a room for rent.