spend的主语通常是人，往往用于以下句型：
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 spend three days (in) doing the work. 我干这项工作用了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。
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。句式是：
1. It takes/took sb.some time to do sth
例如：It will take me two days to do the work.这项工作花了2天时间。
2. Doing sth./Sth.takes sb.some time.
例如： The work will take me two days。这项工作花了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。
pay为付款、赔偿之意，主语通常是人，句型
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? Ill pay it back next week. 你能借给我12块钱吗?下周还你。
4. pay off ones money还清钱。
cost的主语是物或某种活动， 还可以表示值。句型
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。
北京市海淀区中考试题
Im interested in animals, so I _____________ every Saturday working in an animal hospital。
A. pay B. get C. take D. spend
【解析】答案：D。该题考查的是pay, get, take和spend这四个动词的用法区别。只有动词spend可以用在sb. spends time doing sth. 这个句型里，所以正确答案应是spend。
This science book ____ me a great amount of money。
A. took B. cost C. used D. spent
答案：B