--- title: Debt, loans, credit cards and interest — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Debt, loans, credit cards and interest», a lesson of the money course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: To borrow is to take money now and promise to give it back later; the money you still owe is called debt. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/24-debt-loans-credit-cards-and-interest/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Money](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/) / Debt, loans, credit cards and interest # Debt, loans, credit cards and interest Lesson 24 of the money course of Mova's primary school: 16 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/money/24-debt-loans-credit-cards-and-interest/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/24-debt-loans-credit-cards-and-interest/0/) — To borrow is to take money now and promise to give it back later; the money you still owe is called debt. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/24-debt-loans-credit-cards-and-interest/1/) — Borrowing usually has a price called interest: Mum borrows £1,000 from the bank for a new boiler and pays back £1,100, so the boiler really costs her an extra £100. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/24-debt-loans-credit-cards-and-interest/2/) — Picture Lucy borrowing £5 from her brother, who says, "Pay me back £6 or I'm telling Mum!": that extra £1 is interest, and on a fiver it is a lot, a whole fifth of what she borrowed. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/24-debt-loans-credit-cards-and-interest/3/) — Some debt helps, like a mortgage that gives a family a home; some debt traps people, like a credit card that is never paid off or a loan from a dodgy website that doubles what you owe. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/24-debt-loans-credit-cards-and-interest/4/) — The safe rules are simple: borrow only what you can pay back, know the total you will pay, and if you can't pay it off this month, don't put it on the card. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/24-debt-loans-credit-cards-and-interest/5/) — To borrow is to take money you must give back; debt is the money you still owe; to repay is to pay it back. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/24-debt-loans-credit-cards-and-interest/6/) — Paying back £10 a week clears a £50 debt in £50 ÷ £10 = 5 weeks. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/24-debt-loans-credit-cards-and-interest/7/) — A loan is money borrowed, often from a bank; interest is the extra paid for borrowing, like £1,100 − £1,000 = £100. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/24-debt-loans-credit-cards-and-interest/8/) — A credit card lets you buy now and pay later; if you don't pay it all back, interest is added, so £300 can become £306 in a month. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/24-debt-loans-credit-cards-and-interest/9/) — Paying a credit card in full every month means paying no interest: £200 spent and £200 paid back costs £0 extra. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/24-debt-loans-credit-cards-and-interest/10/) — Buy now pay later splits a price into instalments, like £400 as 10 × £40; it is still borrowing, and missed payments can bring fees. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/24-debt-loans-credit-cards-and-interest/11/) — Some lenders charge huge interest, so £200 borrowed can grow to £400 owed; a loan shark is someone who lends illegally at huge cost. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/24-debt-loans-credit-cards-and-interest/12/) — Some debt can help, like a mortgage for a home; debt for things you can't afford, like an unpaid credit card, can trap people. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/24-debt-loans-credit-cards-and-interest/13/) — Free debt advice charities help families pay back what they owe bit by bit: £1,200 at £50 a month takes 24 months, which is 2 years. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/24-debt-loans-credit-cards-and-interest/14/) — Paying back £6 for £5 borrowed is £1 extra, and £1 is one fifth of £5, which is a lot of interest for a small loan. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/24-debt-loans-credit-cards-and-interest/15/) — A credit score is a number showing how well someone pays back debts; paying on time every month keeps it good and makes borrowing easier later. - ← previous: [When money is tight: "we can't afford it"](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/23-when-money-is-tight/) - next →: [Saving for holidays and big things](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/25-saving-for-holidays-and-big-things/) - ↑ back to [Money](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/)