Can I say "...の予算を生かして...する"?

Question

I wish to say the next phrase:

Employers can take part in English lessons on the costs of the employer's budget.

Do you think I could express this idea with "生かす｛いかす｝" or it is not appropriate here?

従業員｛じゅうぎょういん｝は英語｛えいご｝の授業｛じゅぎょう｝に雇用者｛こようしゃ｝の予算｛よさん｝を生かして｛いかして｝参加｛さんか｝できる。

Thank you so much in advance !

Answer 1

No, 生かす in this sentence is unnatural. 使う would be natural. And 雇用者の予算 is unnatural. 会社のお金(経費) would be appropriate in the sentence.

So 従業員は、英語の授業に会社のお金(経費)を使って参加できる would be natural.

Answer 2

This type of 生かす (lit. "to liven up", also often written as 活かす) means "to use wisely", "to make effective use of something", etc. The antonym is 死なせる which can figuratively mean "to leave unused."

You can use 生かす if you are at a loss how to spend the budget and want to imply that spending it for English lessons is a good idea. Otherwise, it's probably inappropriate, and you should use simpler words like 使う, 使用する and 利用する. An employee himself should not use 生かす because it would sound arrogant (it would imply "the wise way to use the company's money is to use it for my English lessons").