Lended vs. lent

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Grammarist

The verb lend is traditionally inflected lent in the past tense and as a past participle. Lended appears from time to time, but nowhere in the English-speaking world is it common.

Examples

A few instances of lended used in place of lent are easily found—for example:

It was a regular season match-up that lended itself to a postseason atmosphere. [Walton Tribune]

The Salvation Army, the Red Cross, Home Depot and too many other organizations to name lended a hand with the cleanup. [Gwinnett Daily Post]

In other activity Monday, commissioners lended their approval to a grant from the state Homeland Security program totaling almost $738,000. [Clarksville Leaf Chronicle]

But examples such as these are much more common:

That cash is put to work, often lent to customers of GE’s big ticket items. [Forbes]

An international trio of academics has lent substance to the sometimes-hysterical lobby against fluoridated water supplies. [Dominion Post]

Public prosecutors say the bank lent money to companies that illegally cleared the rainforest and used labour practices bordering on slavery. [BBC]

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