?三者均可表示“花費(fèi)”，區(qū)別如下：1. 從所用主語來看：cost 的主語通常是事或物(包括形式主語 it)，不能是人；spend 的主語只能是人，不能是事或物；take 的主語可以是事或物(包括形式主語 it)也可以是人。如：The computer cost (me) $2 000. 這部電腦花了(我) 2 000 美元。) 2 000 It costs (me) $1 000 a year to run a car. 使用一輛車每年要花(我)1 000美元。I have spent all day looking for you. 我花了 1 整天找你。整天找你。="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">It took me an hour to write the letter. 我寫這封信花了 1 個(gè)小時(shí)。The letter took me an hour (to write). (譯文同上)I took an hour to write the letter. (譯文同上)注：若 cost 不是表示“花費(fèi)”，而是表示客觀上地或被動(dòng)地“耗費(fèi)”，則也可用人作主語。如：
Smokers cost the government a lot of money every year. 抽煙的人每年要耗費(fèi)政府不少錢。

?2. 從所接賓語來看：cost 的賓語通常是錢，take 的賓語通常是時(shí)間，而 spend 的賓語則可以是時(shí)間或錢。如：How much did it cost to build the bridge? 建這座橋花了多少錢?建這座橋花了多少錢It took her two hours to walk to the station. 走路去車站花了她兩小時(shí)。He spends much time (money) on books. 他花了很多時(shí)間讀(錢買)書。注：cost 有時(shí)也用于時(shí)間，但通常只用于籠統(tǒng)時(shí)間(有時(shí)也用于時(shí)間，但通常只用于籠統(tǒng)時(shí)間一般不用于具體明確的時(shí)間)。如：Making experiments like this costs much time and labour. 做這樣的實(shí)驗(yàn)要花很多時(shí)間和勞力。按傳統(tǒng)語法，take 的賓語通常是時(shí)間，但在現(xiàn)代英語中，用錢作其賓語的現(xiàn)象已很普遍。如：
It takes a lot of money to buy a house. 買一座房子要花一大筆錢。

?3. 從句型結(jié)構(gòu)來看：(1) 三者的通常句型為：sth costs (sb) money 某物花某人多少錢it costs (sb) money to do sth 做某事花某人多少錢sb spends time (money) on sth 某人在某一方面花多少錢sb spends time (money) in [on] doing sth 某人在做某事方面花多少錢it takes sb time (money) to do sth = it takes time (money) for sb to do sth 做某事花某人多少時(shí)間或錢sth takes sb time (money) to do 某事花某人多少時(shí)間或錢去做sb takes time (moeny) to do 某人花多少時(shí)間或錢去做某事(2) 用于以上意義時(shí)，cost 不能用于被動(dòng)語態(tài)，take 通常不用于被動(dòng)語態(tài)，而 spend 則可以用于被動(dòng)語態(tài)。如：誤：Thirty dollars was cost by the coat.誤：Two hours was taken to do the work.
正：Two hours was spent on the work. 做這工作花了兩個(gè)小時(shí)。

?4. 在比喻用法中：(1) cost 指付出代價(jià)(勞力、麻煩、精力、生命等)。如：Careless driving will cost you your life. 粗心開車會(huì)要你的命。Just ring him up. It’ll cost you nothing. 給他打個(gè)電話，這不費(fèi)什么事。(2) spend 表示“消耗”、“用完”。如：I’ll spend no more breath on him. 我不會(huì)再和他費(fèi)唇舌。He spent great efforts to help me. 他費(fèi)了很大的勁兒來幫我。(3) take 表示需要人力(精力、勞力等)。如：)It takes patience. 做這工作需要耐心。It takes two to make a quarrel. 一個(gè)巴掌拍不響。It took three men to lift the box. 抬這個(gè)箱子要 3 個(gè)人。

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