{"id":444,"date":"2016-12-28T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-28T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/3.254.11.177:8081\/?p=444"},"modified":"2025-07-18T16:29:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T14:29:14","slug":"commonly-confused-words-spend-vs-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.americanlanguage.es\/blog-aprender-ingles\/commonly-confused-words-spend-vs-be","title":{"rendered":"Commonly Confused Words: Spend vs Be"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Title:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>Spend vs Be<\/em><br \/>\n<strong>Duration:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>5-7 minutes<\/em><br \/>\n<strong>Level:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>pre-int +<\/em><br \/>\n<strong>Language Focus:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>Commonly Confused Words<\/em><br \/>\n<strong>Objective:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>Vocabulary, To identify differences between two words<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_80 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-transparent ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Tabla de contenidos<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Alternar tabla de contenidos\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.americanlanguage.es\/blog-aprender-ingles\/commonly-confused-words-spend-vs-be\/#When_talking_about_time_and_place\" >When talking about time and place,<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.americanlanguage.es\/blog-aprender-ingles\/commonly-confused-words-spend-vs-be\/#Whats_the_Difference_Between%E2%80%A6\" >What\u2019s the Difference Between\u2026<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.americanlanguage.es\/blog-aprender-ingles\/commonly-confused-words-spend-vs-be\/#Spend_and_Be\" >Spend and Be?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.americanlanguage.es\/blog-aprender-ingles\/commonly-confused-words-spend-vs-be\/#How_can_we_fix_these_sentences\" >How can we fix these sentences?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.americanlanguage.es\/blog-aprender-ingles\/commonly-confused-words-spend-vs-be\/#Lets_look_at_some_more_examples\" >Let\u2019s look at some more examples:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.americanlanguage.es\/blog-aprender-ingles\/commonly-confused-words-spend-vs-be\/#So_to_sum_up%E2%80%A6\" >So, to sum up\u2026<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h3 id=\"-when-talking-about-time-and-place-\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"When_talking_about_time_and_place\"><\/span><strong><em>When talking about time and place,<\/em><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<h2 id=\"what-s-the-difference-between-\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Whats_the_Difference_Between%E2%80%A6\"><\/span>What\u2019s the Difference Between\u2026<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3 id=\"-spend-and-be-\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Spend_and_Be\"><\/span><strong>Spend and Be?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>When talking about time, there are lots of common expressions.<br \/>\nFor example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Time flies when you\u2019re having fun!<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>The third time is the charm!<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are also many verbs that we can use with\u00a0<strong>time and place<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>A common mistake that English learners make is:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u2013\u00a0<em>I was two weeks in New York.<\/em><br \/>\n\u2013\u00a0<em>She was during three days in London.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3 id=\"how-can-we-fix-these-sentences-\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_can_we_fix_these_sentences\"><\/span>How can we fix these sentences?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>I\u00a0<em>spent<\/em>\u00a0two weeks in New York. \/ I\u00a0<em>was<\/em>\u00a0in New York for three days.<\/li>\n<li>She\u00a0<em>spent<\/em>\u00a0three days in London. \/ She\u00a0<em>was<\/em>\u00a0in London for three days.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Notice the pattern:<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>spend<\/em>\u00a0+\u00a0<em>time<\/em><br \/>\n<em>be<\/em>\u00a0+\u00a0<em>preposition<\/em>\u00a0+\u00a0<em>place<\/em>\u00a0(+\u00a0<em>for<\/em>\u00a0+\u00a0<em>time<\/em>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<hr \/>\n<p>In English, the verb\u00a0<strong>to spend<\/strong>\u00a0is used with\u00a0<strong>money<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u2013\u00a0<em>We spent a fortune on our last holiday! Paris is really expensive.<\/em><br \/>\n\u2013\u00a0<em>Madrid is a great city for art. Many of the museums have free days, so you don\u2019t have to spend a lot of money.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>But it\u2019s also used to talk about\u00a0<strong>duration<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3 id=\"let-s-look-at-some-more-examples-\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Lets_look_at_some_more_examples\"><\/span>Let\u2019s look at some more examples:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Last summer I went to Rio de Janeiro. I didn\u2019t really get to know the city all that well, because I only\u00a0<em>spent five days<\/em>\u00a0there.<br \/>\nNext time I\u2019ll have to\u00a0<em>spend more time<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>As a child, Rob\u00a0<em>spent hours playing<\/em>\u00a0video games when he should have been studying!<br \/>\n<em>(Note the structure: spend + time expression (hours, 2 years, 5 minutes) + verb + -ing)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr \/>\n<h3 id=\"-so-to-sum-up-\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"So_to_sum_up%E2%80%A6\"><\/span>So, to sum up\u2026<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>When talking about time and place:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u2705\u00a0<strong>spend + time expression<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>(I spent 2 months, He spent days, They spent weeks, We spent 10 years)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u2705\u00a0<strong>be + in\/at\/on + a place<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>(We were in New York, I stayed at a friend\u2019s house, You were on a boat)<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<blockquote><p><em>The third time you try something, it will work.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When talking about time, there are lots of common expressions. For example, time flies when you\u2019re having fun! or The third time is the charm!*<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/api.americanlanguage.es\/uploads\/1868f71643624a13a00d081cf83199d9.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americanlanguage.es\/blog-aprender-ingles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americanlanguage.es\/blog-aprender-ingles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americanlanguage.es\/blog-aprender-ingles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanlanguage.es\/blog-aprender-ingles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanlanguage.es\/blog-aprender-ingles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanlanguage.es\/blog-aprender-ingles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":445,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanlanguage.es\/blog-aprender-ingles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444\/revisions\/445"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanlanguage.es\/blog-aprender-ingles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americanlanguage.es\/blog-aprender-ingles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanlanguage.es\/blog-aprender-ingles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanlanguage.es\/blog-aprender-ingles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}