Short answer. Under Article 418 of the Civil Code, consumable movables are those that cannot be used appropriately without being consumed. When you borrow a consumable, you cannot return the identical thing — you must return an equivalent quantity and quality. With a nonconsumable, you must return the very same thing in the same condition.
What the law says
Movable property is either consumable or nonconsumable. To the first class belong those movables which cannot be used in a manner appropriate to their nature without their being consumed; to the second class belong all the others.
Civil Code, Article 418 — Consumable and Non-consumable Movables. Read the full provision →
The test Article 418 uses
Article 418 of the Civil Code draws the line at appropriate use. A movable is consumable if you cannot use it in the way it is meant to be used without destroying or consuming it in the process. Food, fuel, and money are the most common examples: eating food consumes it, burning fuel eliminates it, spending money transfers it permanently. Everything else — tools, vehicles, equipment, books — is nonconsumable, because appropriate use does not require destroying the object. The item may wear out over time, but that is different from being consumed in use.
How the classification changes your repayment obligation
The distinction has direct consequences for anyone who borrows. When you borrow a nonconsumable — a car, a camera, a generator — the arrangement is a commodatum: you must return the identical object. You may use it but must preserve it and return it when the loan term ends. When you borrow a consumable — money, rice, cooking gas — the transaction is a mutuum or simple loan: you consume the thing, you own it while it is in your hands, and what you owe is an equivalent amount of the same kind and quality. The lender cannot demand back the specific bills or grains given to you.
Money as consumable property
Money is the most common consumable movable in everyday legal transactions. When you receive a cash loan, you consume it by spending it. The Civil Code treats money as consumable because spending is money's appropriate use — no one borrows cash and returns the same bills as a legal obligation under a simple loan. What the borrower owes is the same amount plus any agreed interest. This is why loan agreements are measured in amounts and denominations rather than by identifying serial numbers: the lender's right is to an equivalent sum, not to the return of particular currency.
When consumables are lent for display, not use
The Civil Code recognizes a narrow exception: consumables can be treated as nonconsumable when the parties agree that the thing will be exhibited or used as a display or security rather than consumed. A wine collection lent for an exhibition, or currency given as a deposit for show, retains its consumable character in law but is treated as nonconsumable for the purpose of that particular transaction. In such cases, the borrower must return the identical objects. The parties' agreement about the purpose of the loan, not the physical nature of the thing alone, determines which set of return obligations applies.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Allied Banking Corporation and Guillermo Dimog vs. Spouses Mario Antonio Macam & Rose Trinidad, G.R. No. 200635, February 1, 2021 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- BPI Family Bank vs. Amado Franco, et al, G.R. No. 123498, November 23, 2007 — read the decision on LawPhil →