Meaning & use
spend
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitive
To pay money for goods or services.
Grammar: Takes an object: spend money. You can also say spend on something.
Patterns
- spend money
- spend something on something
- spend something for something
She spent fifty dollars on a new pair of shoes.
They spend too much money on eating out.
He spent his savings on a car.
verbtransitive
To use time doing something or being somewhere.
Grammar: Takes an object: spend time. Often followed by an -ing form: spend time doing something.
Patterns
- spend time
- spend time doing something
- spend time with someone
I spent the whole afternoon reading.
We spent a week in Paris last summer.
She spends a lot of time with her grandchildren.
verbtransitive
To use up energy, effort, or other resources.
Grammar: Takes an object: spend energy. Often used with on: spend effort on something.
Patterns
- spend energy
- spend effort on something
- spend resources on something
Don't spend all your energy on things you can't control.
The team spent a lot of effort on the project.
We spent too many resources on a small problem.
Word forms
| third person singular | spends |
|---|---|
| past tense | spent |
| past participle | spent |
| -ing form | spending |
Common combinations
- spend money
- They spend a lot of money on travel.
- spend time
- I spend too much time on my phone.
- spend a fortune
- She spent a fortune on that handbag.
- spend the night
- We spent the night at a hotel near the airport.
- spend wisely
- You need to learn to spend wisely.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pay
- Focuses on giving money for something specific; spend is broader and can also mean using time or energy.
- expend
- A formal word for using up resources; spend is the everyday choice.
- pass
- Used for time, as in pass the time, but spend is more common for time you choose to use.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: spend or spent?
spend vs spent
The past tense of spend; also an adjective meaning used up or tired. Don't confuse it with spend, the base form.
Practice
She ___ three hours finishing her homework.
Choose one answer.
Spent is the past tense, which fits the finished action. Spend is the base form and would need a different subject or tense; spending is the -ing form and needs an auxiliary; spends is present tense and doesn't match the past time.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “spend”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.