英语中，spend、take、pay、cost四个词都有花费的意思，主要区别有：
一、spend的主语通常是人，句型有：
1. (sb) spend some money/some time on sth
2. (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元买了这件大衣。
He spent three days on the work. = He spent three days (in) doing the work. 他干这项工作用了3天。
3. spend money for sth. 花钱买……
例如：His money was spent for books. 他的钱用来买书了。
二、take常用于“占用、花费”时间，后面常跟双宾语，其主语通常为形式主语"it"或物。句型有：
1. It takes/took sb. some time to do sth
例如：It will take me two days to do the work. 这项工作将会花去我2天时间。
2. Doing sth./sth. takes sb. some time.
例如：The work will take me two days. 这项工作将会花去我2天时间。
Repairing this car took him the whole afternoon. 他花了一下午修车。
It took me three years to draw the beautiful horses. =Drawing the beautiful horses took me three years. 画这些漂亮的马花费了我3年时间。
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三、pay为“付款、赔偿”之意，主语通常是人，句型有：
1. sb. pays some money for sth
例如： I paid fifty yuan for the coat. 我花50元买了这件大衣。
2. pay (sb.) money for sth. 付钱（给某人）买……
例如：I have to pay them 20 pounds for this room each month. 我每个月要付20英磅的房租。
3. pay money back 还钱
例如：May I borrow 12 yuan from you? I'll pay it back next week. 你能借给我12块钱吗？下周还你。
4. pay off one's money 还清钱
四、cost的主语是物或某种活动， 还可以表示“值”。句型有：
1. sth. costs (sb.) +money 某物花了（某人）多少钱
例如：A new computer costs a lot of money. 买一台新电脑要花一大笔钱。
2. (doing) sth. costs (sb.) +time 某物（做某事）花了（某人）多少时间
例如：Remembering these new words cost him a lot of time. 他花了大量时间才记住了这些单词。
注意：cost的过去式及过去分词都是cost，并且不能用于被动句。
take cost spend pay
take 一般主语是物，一般是it。
spend主语是人一般后面跟on sth 或者ving sth。
pay一般后面跟钱数或者for sth。
cost主语也是人。
Spend . Expend . Cost . Pay
以上四个词和“消费”、“花费”和“消耗”有关。
●首先，spend主要做及物动词使用，其宾语可以是“钱”、“时间”或“精力”。
Every year, she spends a lot of money on clothes.
女孩，您用生命买衣服啊。
We’ve just spent 1.9 million on improving our computer network.
笔者回想起在老东家有一段时期几十个电脑共享1MB带宽的工作环境，何其辛苦!
I’ve spent an hour in the station waiting for the train.
各位瞅仔细了，spend [money] on doing sth.但是spend [time] doing sth.这就是区别。雅思考官各个鹰眼犀利，可别范怂。
My sister always spends ages in the bathroom.
我姐姐洗澡总是洗很久很久。
I want to live in a dormitory to spend time with my school friends.
For the past month, he’s spending all the energy trying to find a job.
此外，spend并非大家想象的只能由人或机构做主语：
Her anger soon spent itself (=stopped). 她只生了一会气。
●expend的用法和spend差不多，比expend更为正式，可以用于雅思写作;
You expend so much effort for so little return.
你还真是入不敷出。
Governments expend a lot of resources on war.
政府在战争上投入很多资源。
●cost的用法与spend, expend不同。cost的主语一般是花出去的钱、时间和精力的对象。
I cost 30 dollars for the board game. X
The board game costs me 30 dollars.√
I spend 30 dollars for the board game.√
One costs more money running a business than buying a house. X
Running a business costs more money than buying a house.√
It costs more money to run a business than to buy a house.√
(因为这句话的主语是不定式to run a business，所以它被放在谓语和宾语后面，主语用it代替)
●pay的用法。pay强调“付款”，也有pay [money] for sth.这样一看就懂的用法
You have to pay four dollars for each hamburger.
当然pay还有很多其他用法。
Mum paid for my driving lessons./Mum paid me for the driving lessons.
妈妈帮我付了学开车的钱。
Ray paid some kids to wash his car.
Ray花钱叫几个小孩来洗他的车。
Ray paid the kids 10 dollars to wash his car.
Ray花10美元叫这孩子洗他车。
A savings plan that paid six percent interest
一个6%利息的储蓄方案
It pays to be honest. (= It is good to be honest)
William is now paying the price for his early mistakes.
威廉姆现在在为他之前的错误买单。
I decide to pay my folks a visit this weekend.
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