take、spend、cost、pay 的区别与用法

引言

在英语学习中，take、spend、cost 和 pay 都可以表示“花费”，但它们的主语、宾语及搭配对象各不相同。掌握它们的区别对准确表达至关重要。

1. spend

主语是人，常用于“spend time/money on something”或“spend time/money (in) doing something”。

• I spent two hours on my homework.
• She spent $50 buying books.

2. cost

主语是物或活动，表示“某事/某物花费（某人）多少钱/时间”。

• This book cost me $20.
• The trip cost them a lot of time.

注意：cost 一般不用于时间花费（非正式语境除外），且无被动语态。

3. take

通常用于“It takes someone time to do something”结构，主语是 it，强调做某事所需的时间。

• It takes me 30 minutes to walk to school.
• How long did it take you to finish the project?

4. pay

主语是人，强调“付款”行为，常用结构为“pay (someone) money for something”。

• I paid $100 for this jacket.
• They paid the worker for his service.

总结对比表