Have you ever been confused when using the "spend (time)" verb? Spend time doing something or spend time to do something, which one is correct? After doing some searches, I found some interesting information about it.
Spend time doing something
This is the most common used form in our daily life. We use "spend time doing something" when we want to say how we spent the time. In this situation, "spend (time)" is a verb expressing duration. It means we use that duration for something.
Examples:
I spent time cleaning my room.
Thank you for spending time reading my post.
Last night, I spent time finishing my homework.
Spend time to do something
This usage is less popular than the Verb-ing in our life. Some people say that this form is not acceptable while the others accept it. They say we can use this form when we want to say why we spent the time. It means we spend time in order to do something. "Spend time to do something" is often used to express a purpose or a reason.
Examples:
I spent a lot of time (at the station) to see you.
The murderer spent a lot of time to kill him.
Though "spend time to do something" is acceptable, I think we should use "take time to do something" as a replacement.
Examples:
The murderer took a lot of time to kill him.
We took two days to finish the work.
Conclusion
In our life, we usually want to say how we spent the time, that means, telling what we did during that time, so "spend time doing something" is probably the most popular choice. If you want to use "spend time" with a reason or a purpose, you'd better use "take time to do something" as a replacement for "spend time to do something".
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