如果从 “花费” 的角度来说,这四个词可以划分为两类
1、 pay 和 spend 必须用 “人” 作主语,但在用法上有别
pay for sth. 搭配,如:
We paid £35 for each ticket. 每张票我们花了35英镑。
He spent five dollars for a movie ticket; 他花了五美元买了一张电影票;
spend 与 on sth. 或 in doing sth. 搭配,如:
I have spent much money on the books. 我花了很多花钱买了这些书。
Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself. 别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
2、cost 和 take 用 “非人” 主语,二者的意思区别不大
物作主语
A painted wall doesn't cost much money. 彩绘墙壁花费不了多少钱。
不定式作主语
It's going to cost me over $100,000 to buy new trucks. 买几辆新卡车将花掉我10万多美元。
It takes two to make a quarrel. [谚] 一个巴掌拍不响, 两个人都有过。
cost,东西 + cost。比如 This book costs 10RMB.
pay,人付款。比如 I paid 10RMB for this book.
spend,人花钱。比如:I spent 10RMB for this book.
take,it + takes。比如: It takes me ten minutes to get to school.