Irregular English verb, past tense of Spend: Spend - Spent - Spent

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What is Spend? Let's explore the definition, usage, and conjugation of the past tense of Spend below with PREP!

I. What is Spend?
II. What are V0, V2, V3 of Spend? The past tense of Spend in English
III. How to Conjugate the Verb Spend
1. 1. In tenses
2. 2. In special sentence structures
IV. Idioms and phrases with Spend in English
VI. Exercises on applying past tense of Spend with Answers
1. 1. Exercise: Conjugate the verb in parentheses
2. 2. Answer key

I. What is Spend?

Spend is pronounced /spend/, functioning as a verb. Spend meaning in English is:

Define Spend	Example
To use money to pay for goods or services	Jack spends a lot of money on clothes.
To spend time doing something; to occupy time in a particular activity	Jack spends my weekends with my family.
To use something completely until it is gone or exhausted; to deplete resources	Jack spent all his savings on the trip.

II. What are V0, V2, V3 of Spend? The past tense of Spend in English

What is the past tense of Spend? V0, V2, and V3 are abbreviations for Base form, Spend past simple, and Past participle of Spend. Let's take a closer look at V0, V2, and V3 of Spend in the table below!

Verb form		Example
V0	Spend /spend/	I spend so much time on camping trips of my class.
V2	Spent /spent/	I spent so much time on the last camping trip.
V3	Spent /spent/	I have spent so much time for over 3 months of class camping.

III. How to Conjugate the Verb Spend

In the 12 tenses of English and special structures, how is the verb Spend conjugated? Let's explore this below with PREP!

1. In tenses

12 tenses in English	I	He/She/It	We/You/They
Present simple tense	spend	spends	spend
	I spend a lot of time reading books. He spends his weekends playing soccer. They spend too much money on coffee.
Present progressive tense	am spending	is spending	are spending
	I am spending my free time studying for exams. He is spending more time with his family lately. They are spending the afternoon at the park.
Present perfect tense	have spent	has spent	have spent
	I have spent my savings on a new car. He has spent years perfecting his skills. They have spent all their vacation days.
Present perfect progressive tense	have been spending	has been spending	have been spending
	I have been spending too much time on social media. He has been spending his evenings working on a project. They have been spending their weekends volunteering.
Past simple tense	spent	spent	spent
	I spent the whole day at the beach yesterday. He spent his childhood in a small town. They spent a lot of time traveling last summer.
Past progressive tense	was spending	was spending	were spending
	Last week, I was spending my holiday in Italy when I got sick. He was spending too much time on his phone during the meeting. They were spending their winter break skiing in the mountains last month.
Past perfect tense	had spent	had spent	had spent
	I had spent all my money before I realized it. He had spent years studying before he got a job. They had spent their savings by the time they moved.
Past perfect progressive tense	had been spending	had been spending	had been spending
	I had been spending too much time working before I took a vacation. He had been spending his evenings practicing guitar. They had been spending their weekends preparing for the exam.
Future simple tense	will spend	will spend	will spend
	I will spend my birthday with friends. He will spend the summer in Europe. They will spend more time on their hobbies next year.
Future progressive tense	will be spending	will be spending	will be spending
	I will be spending my vacation in Hawaii next Monday. He will be spending this weekend with his grandparents. They will be spending this afternoon at the museum.
Future perfect tense	will have spent	will have spent	will have spent
	I will have spent all my savings by the end of the year. He will have spent all day to complete his project before the deadline. They will have spent two weeks traveling by next month.
Future perfect progressive tense	will have been spending	will have been spending	will have been spending
	I will have been spending more time on self-care by the end of this month. He will have been spending his evenings learning a new language. They will have been spending their weekends hiking for a while.

2. In special sentence structures

Special Structure	I	He/She/It	We/You/They
Conditional Sentences
Second conditional - Main Clause	would spend	would spend	would spend
Second conditional - Main Clause	If I had a lot of money, I would spend it on traveling the world. If she won the lottery, she would spend her money helping others. If we had more free time, we would spend it exploring new places.
Third conditional - Main Clause	would have spent	would have spent	would have spent
Third conditional - Main Clause	If I had known about the sale, I would have spent less money. If she had studied harder, she would have spent less time worrying about exams. If we had planned better, we would have spent our vacation differently.
Subjunctive Mood
Subjunctive expressing present situation	spend	spend	spend
Subjunctive expressing present situation contrary to fact	spent	spent	spent
Subjunctive expressing past situation contrary to fact	had spent	had spent	had spent
Example	I spend my weekends relaxing at home. She wishes she spent less time on her phone and more time with friends. If we had spent our money reasonably, we might have had a better experience.

IV. Idioms and phrases with Spend in English

After reviewing the past form of Spend, let's explore the idioms and phrases with Spend in English below with PREP!

Idioms with Spend	Meaning	Example
spend a penny	A polite or indirect way of saying to go to the restroom	Excuse me, I need to spend a penny before we continue our journey.
spend money like water	To spend money extravagantly or wastefully, without concern for saving	Since she got her new job, she has been spending money like water on clothes and gadgets.
spend the night together spend the night with someone	To stay overnight with someone, often in a romantic or affectionate context	After the party, they decided to spend the night together at her apartment.
		He asked if he could spend the night with her after their date.

VI. Exercises on applying past tense of Spend with Answers

To better understand the past tense of Spend in English, let's complete the exercise below with PREP!

1. Exercise: Conjugate the verb in parentheses

I usually _______ my weekends relaxing at home.
Xavia _______ a lot of money on shopping last month.
They _______ their vacation in London next year.
If I had more time, I _______ more hours with my family.
Jackson _______ all his savings on a new car.
We _______ the night at a hotel during our trip.
I _______ the whole afternoon studying yesterday.
They _______ too much money on unnecessary things.
I wish I _______ more time on my hobbies.
They _______ their last holiday in Japan.

2. Answer key

spend
spent
will spend
would spend
spent

spent
was spending
spend
spent
spent

Hopefully, through this article, you have understood the definition, usage, and conjugation of the past tense of Spend. Be sure to regularly follow PREP for more valuable English knowledge!

Master Tu Pham

Founder/CEO at Prep

Founder of Prep Smart Test Preparation Platform. With over 10 years of experience in teaching and test preparation, Mr. Tú has helped thousands of students achieve high scores in the IELTS exam. In addition, Mr. Tú Phạm is also a consulting expert in British Council programs and a speaker at many leading educational events, programs, and conferences.