# pay back

CEFR A2 · Phrasal verb

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/pay-back
Updated: 2026-10-22

## Definition

to give money back to someone after you borrowed it. You can also use it to mean doing something bad to someone because they hurt you first.

For teachers: to return borrowed funds to a creditor; also used figuratively to mean retaliating against someone for a perceived injury. This transitive verb is separable, allowing the object to be placed between the base verb and the particle.

## Examples

- I will pay you back for the coffee tomorrow.
- He borrowed a large sum from his parents to start his business and promised to pay them back within three years.
- The protagonist spent years planning how to pay back the rivals who had orchestrated his professional downfall and social exile.

## Pitfalls

- Not "I need to pay back to him." but "I need to pay him back." — the verb takes a direct object for the person being paid, so the preposition 'to' is incorrect.

## Usage notes

- If the object is a pronoun like 'it' or 'him', it must be placed between 'pay' and 'back'.
- Teaching tip: Contrast the financial meaning with the 'revenge' meaning, noting that 'repay' is a more formal synonym for the financial sense.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.