spend,cost,take,pay 都可以表示“花費”,但用法卻不盡相同.
1)spend的主語必須是人,常用于以下結(jié)構(gòu)：
spend time/money on sth.在……上花費時間(金錢).
如：I spent two hours on this maths problem.這道數(shù)學題花了我兩個小時.
spend time/money (in) doing sth.花費時間(金錢)做某事.
如：They spent two years (in) building this bridge.造這座橋花了他們兩年時間.
spend money for sth.花錢買…….
如：His money was spent for books.他的錢用來買書了.
2)cost的主語是物或某種活動,還可以表示“值”,常見用法如下：
sth.costs (sb.)+金錢,某物花了(某人)多少錢.
如：A new computer costs a lot of money.買一臺新電腦要花一大筆錢.
(doing) sth.costs (sb.)+時間,某物(做某事)花了(某人)多少時間.
如：Remembering these new words cost him a lot of time.他花了大量時間才記住了這些單詞.
3)take后面常跟雙賓語,常見用法有以下幾種：
It takes sb.+時間+to do sth.做某事花了某人多少時間.
如：It took them three years to build this road.他們用了三年時間修完了這條路.
doing sth.takes sb.+時間,做某事花了某人多少時間.
如：Repairing this car took him the whole afternoon.他花了一下午修車.
take 后一般加時間或是精力,很少加錢.