spend,cost,take和pay的區(qū)別是歷年中考試題的必考內(nèi)容之一,雖然它們都可以表示“花費(fèi)”,但用法卻不盡相同.
spend的主語必須是人, 常用于以下結(jié)構(gòu)：(1) spend time ／money on sth. 在……上花費(fèi)時(shí)間（金錢）.例：I spent two hours on this maths problem. 這道數(shù)學(xué)題花了我兩個(gè)小時(shí).(2) spend time ／ money (in) doing sth. 花費(fèi)時(shí)間（金錢）做某事.例：They spent two years (in) building this bridge. 造這座橋花了他們兩年時(shí)間.(3)spend money for sth. 花錢買…….例：His money was spent for books. 他的錢用來買書了.
cost的主語是物或某種活動(dòng), 還可以表示“值”, 常見用法如下：(1)sth. costs (sb.) ＋金錢,某物花了（某人）多少錢.例：A new computer costs a lot of money. 買一臺(tái)新電腦要花一大筆錢.(2) (doing) sth. costs (sb.) ＋時(shí)間,某物（做某事）花了（某人）多少時(shí)間.例：Remembering these new words cost him a lot of time. 他花了大量時(shí)間才記住了這些單詞.
注意：cost的過去式及過去分詞都是cost,并且不能用于被動(dòng)句.
take后面常跟雙賓語, 常見用法有以下幾種：(1) It takes sb. ＋時(shí)間＋to do sth. 做某事花了某人多少時(shí)間.例：It took them three years to build this road. 他們用了三年時(shí)間修完了這條路.(2)doing sth. takes sb. ＋時(shí)間,做某事花了某人多少時(shí)間.例：Repairing this car took him the whole afternoon. 他花了一下午修車.
pay的基本用法是：(1) pay (sb.) money for sth. 付錢（給某人）買…….例：I have to pay them 20 pounds for this room each month. 我每個(gè)月要付20英磅的房租.(2)pay for sth. 付……的錢.例：I have to pay for the book lost. 我不得不賠丟失的書款.(3)pay for sb. 替某人付錢.例：Don?蒺t worry!I'll pay for you. 別擔(dān)心, 我會(huì)給你付錢的.(4)pay sb. 付錢給某人. 例: They pay us every month.他們每月給我們報(bào)酬.（5）pay money back 還錢.例：May I borrow 12 yuan from you? I'll pay it back next week. 你能借給我12塊錢嗎?下周還你.（6）pay off one's money還清錢.
spend/cost/pay/take
(1)spend的主語通常是人,往往用于以下句型：
（sb）spend some money/some time on sth.
(sb)spend some money/some time(in)doing sth.例如：
I spent fifty yuan on the coat.
= I spent fifty yuan (in) buying the coat. 我花50元買了這件大衣.
He spent three days on the work.
= He spend three days (in) doing the work. 我干這項(xiàng)工作用了3天.
(2)take常用于“占用、花費(fèi)”時(shí)間,其主語通常為形式主語“it”或物.句式是：
It takes/took sb.some time to do sth＝Sth.takes sb.some time. 例如：
It took me three years to draw the beautiful horses.
畫這些漂亮的馬花費(fèi)了我3年時(shí)間.
The work will take me two days.這項(xiàng)工作花了2天時(shí)間.
(3) pay為“付款、賠償”之意,主語通常是人,往往是sb. pays some money for sth或pay sb.(some money for sth) 例如：
I paid fifty yuan for the coat.我花50元買了這件大衣.
He has paid the doctor 50 pounds for the medicine? 他買藥已付醫(yī)生50英鎊.
How much did you pay him? 你付他多少錢?
(4) cost的主語必須是某物.spend … on sth．/in doing sth．的主語必須是人.pay … for 的主語也是人.It takes + sb．+ 時(shí)間（或錢）to do sth．的主語則必須是形式主語It. 動(dòng)詞cost的常用用法是sth.cost (sb.) some money.