The Lewis base property of MgO was studied quantitatively by infrared spectroscopy with boric acid trimethyl ester (BATE) as the molecular probe. MgO adsorbs BATE and makes the peak at 1360cm^-1 split into two peaks at 1410cm^-1 and 1300cm^-1 and shift the peak at 1036cm^-1 to 1060cm^-1. Under low pressure,the intensities of the peaks are proportional to the and to the amount of MgO. The results showed that MgO has a certain strength the adsorption of BATE on MgO is monomotecula...