spend;cost;take;pay;pay for
spend,cost,take,pay和pay for都可以翻譯成"花費(fèi)"的意思,但各自的含義不同.
①spend的主語必須是"人",賓語可以是錢、精力、時(shí)間等,其后用on+名詞或用(in)+動(dòng)名詞形式,不接不定式.如：
He spends too much money on books.他平時(shí)將很多錢用在買書上.
He spent a lot of money (in) buying a new car.他花了很多錢買了一輛新車.
Every morning he spends half an hour on English.每天早晨他用半小時(shí)讀英語.(句中on English可與(in) reading English替換)
②cost的主語必須是"物"或"事",表示"費(fèi)用"、"耗費(fèi)",后接life,money,health,time等,側(cè)重于"花費(fèi)"的代價(jià).如：
That one mistake almost cost him his life.那個(gè)錯(cuò)誤幾乎讓他喪命.
The book cost him one dollar.這本書花了他一美元.
It costs you twelve pounds to go to London by ship.乘船到倫敦要12英磅.
Making experiments like this costs much time and labour.做這樣的實(shí)驗(yàn)要花很多錢.
③take表示"花費(fèi)"時(shí),其主語一般是"一件事",有時(shí)主語也可以是人,它說明事情的完成"花費(fèi)了……".如：
It took me ten minutes to go to the post office.我到郵局用了十分鐘.
It takes a lot of money to buy a house as big as that.買一座像那樣的房子要花很多錢.
The journey took me three hours.這次旅行用了我三個(gè)小時(shí).
Painting the picture took me all week.畫這幅畫用了我整整一周的時(shí)間.
說明：take...to do sth.句型側(cè)重完成該動(dòng)作花費(fèi)的時(shí)間,而spend...doing sth.有時(shí)并不說明動(dòng)作是否完成.如：
It took him an hour to read the book.他用一小時(shí)讀完了這本書.
He spent an hour (in) reading the book.他用了一小時(shí)讀這本書.(是否讀完并未說明)
④pay的基本意思是"支付",作為及物動(dòng)詞,賓語可以是"人"和"錢".如：
He paid the taxi and hurried to the station.他付了出租車的錢,急忙向車站趕去.
They had to pay two hundred francs.他們得付二百法朗.
We'll pay you in a few days.幾天后我們會(huì)給你錢.
⑤pay for的賓語為"物"和"事",for表示支付的原因.如：
You'll have to pay me ten dollars a week for your meals.你每周得付給我十美元飯錢.