What's the difference between "rent" and "hire" in British and American English?


The tip I used to teach was the verb, hire, should be used for things which are transportable hence, you hire a car, sports equipment, a boat, a bike etc.


Rent, on the other hand, is primarily used for property, e.g.; to rent a holiday residence; "office space for rent"; and "We're living in rented accommodation".


But I realize that tip doesn't cover everything and here's why.



In the UK, when I was a child and before credit cards became the norm; families who couldn't afford to pay the full price of household furniture, electrical appliances; including colour TVs, and even alarm clock radios were "bought" on HP (hire and purchase) – once popularly called the "never-never". Recently, I discovered that in the US a similar system for purchasing goods exists but is known as Rent-to-Own. link


The same discrepancy lies with car rentals in the US and car hire in the UK but in neither case do you end up purchasing the vehicle.


We hire personal trainers (I suppose they are transportable and for a limited period) but we also rent designer dresses and rent movies or videos (BrEng).



  • So when do I use hire and rent in the UK and the US?

  • Are there any other differences I should be aware of?

  • Are they interchangeable?



Answer



In the US the word rent is for objects (cars, tv's, house, tool) and the word hire is for people/service. I cannot think of an example when this is not the case (I am sure a few odd examples exist though).


Upon getting comment from @user814064 I would add:


Rent can be used for a person/service if it is designated for a brief period. But in all of those cases the word hire could also be used.


In the example: "Rent a pilot" it would mean that you will use a pilot's service for one time or a short contracted time. It would also be perfectly acceptable to use "hire a pilot".


I think the missing word here is buy. If you take permanent ownership of an object the common term is buy - and then you own it. You wouldn't want to tell your wife that you hired a backhoe.


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