TO HIRE

Good morning / afternoon / evening everyone, depending on when you are reading this. Welcome back to the Daily Vitamin.

If you work for a business, or own one, you should be familiar with today's verb: to hire.

It means: to pay someone to work for you; to employ someone.

Example 1
Our sales are down. I think we should hire a new marketing director.

Hire can also mean the same as "rent"; in other words, it can be used for things as well as people.

Example 2
Next week we're going to hire a car and drive to Germany.

In the US, the second usage is not used very often. Instead, the word "rent" is used for things and "hire" for employing people.

So, what do you think is the correct option for Example 3?

Example 3
Next week when I get to Madrid, I will ________ a room for the night.
A. hire
B. rent
C. A in the UK and B in the US

The correct answer is C. We generally hire a room in the UK and rent a room in the US. In the UK hire is used for things and people, but in the US it is usually only used for people.

For more practice, I challenge you to come up with your own original sentences for each of these verbs? You can post your sentences on one of our social media sites (Facebook or Twitter) and we will give you feedback about your sentences as soon as possible.

I hope this Vitamin has been useful and I hope you have a wonderful day!