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Consider the acid-base behaviour of ammonia:

$H_3N(aq) + H_2O(l) rightleftharpoons NH_4^(+) + HO^-$

The lone pair on ammonia is conceived to donate electrons to form a coordinate covalent bond with the proton. Of course in ammonium ion, $NH_4^+$, all of the $N-H$ bonds are equivalent, but nitrogen has a formal positive charge because its lone pair has been donated to $H^+$.