spend time for | WordReference Forums

I came across this in an official document drawn up by German speakers. "How much time do you spend for this activity? Forums Dictionarysearch:  English-Spanish English-French English-Italian English-German English-Dutch English-Russian English-Portuguese English-Polish English-Romanian English-Swedish English-Czech English-Greek English-Turkish English-Chinese English-Japanese English-Korean English-Arabic Spanish-English French-English Italian-English German-English Dutch-English Russian-English Portuguese-English Polish-English Romanian-English Swedish-English Czech-English Greek-English Turkish-English Chinese-English Japanese-English Korean-English Arabic-English Spanish-French Spanish-Portuguese Spanish-Catalan French-Spanish Portuguese-Spanish Englishdefinition Englishsynonyms Englishcollocations Englishusage Italiandefinition Spanishdefinition Spanishsynonyms Catalandefinition Spanish French Italian Login Register What'snew Search Rules/Help/FAQ Members InterfaceLanguage Menu Login Register Installtheapp Install EnglishOnly EnglishOnly Youareusinganoutofdatebrowser.Itmaynotdisplaythisorotherwebsitescorrectly.Youshouldupgradeoruseanalternativebrowser. spendtimefor Threadstarter Setwale_Charm Startdate Oct27,2006 Setwale_Charm SeniorMember movingaround-aBritwho'shardlyeverlivedin BritishEnglish,Russian IcameacrossthisinanofficialdocumentdrawnupbyGermanspeakers."Howmuchtimedoyouspendforthisactivity?"Thisseemstobenotincorrectbutstillratheranuncommonwayofputtingit.ShallIcorrectitasamistakeandreplacewith"on"orshallIleaveitthewayitis?   elroy Moderator:EHL,Arabic,Hebrew,German(-Spanish) Chicago,IL USEnglish,PalestinianArabicbilingual Ifthemeaningis"Howmuchdoyouspendtimedoingthisactivity?"thenIwouldconsider"for"wrong(soyes,Iwouldchangeitto"on").   Setwale_Charm SeniorMember movingaround-aBritwho'shardlyeverlivedin BritishEnglish,Russian That`swhatIfelttoo.   roxcyn SeniorMember USA AmericanEnglish[AmE] WhileIamthinkingbothstructuresworkfornativespeakersIwouldchooseon.Forexample,Isearchedgoogleforthephrases:"howmuchtimedoyouspendon"and"howmuchtimedoyouspendfor",thefirstonegotaround9000resultswhilethesecondonegotaround50results.Thelastcamefrommanynativespeakersites,soIamthinkingthatsomepeopleuseitlikethat. HoweverIthinkthatforcanwork,forexample: Howmuchtimedoyouspendforthisactivity?(spendfor=amountoftimespentwiththeactivity,thetimethatisateup).Forexample,youwouldsay:Howmuchmoneydidyouspendforthejacket?(spendfor=paidfor,wastedon) Ispend45minutesforthisactivity.   Setwale_Charm SeniorMember movingaround-aBritwho'shardlyeverlivedin BritishEnglish,Russian Still"for"soundsabitweirdtome.Icanratherimagineitinasentencelike:Ohpeople,dospendsometimeforapoor....meaning'spare".   roxcyn SeniorMember USA AmericanEnglish[AmE] Ithinkitisstrangebecausethestuctureisusuallyusedwithmoney,butaswithmoney,timeisspent,thereareonly24hoursinaday,andapersonmustspendtheirtimeoncertainactivities. Forexample,itisperfectlyacceptabletosay: Hey,howmuchdidyouspendforthatmovieticket? Ialreadytoldyou!Ispenteightdollarsforthatticket.   elroy Moderator:EHL,Arabic,Hebrew,German(-Spanish) Chicago,IL USEnglish,PalestinianArabicbilingual Imustdisagree.EvenwithmoneyIwoulduse"on"-anddefinitelywithtime. Ispentsomemoneyonanewtie.(but:Ipaidalotofmoneyforanewtie.) Ispentalotoftimeonthisproject. Imayswallow"for"inthefirstsentence,butnotinthesecond.Yourcomparisonbetweentimeandmoneyislegitimate,buttheconclusionyoudrawaboutthevalidityof"for"withtimeispurelytheoreticalanddoesnotreflectactualuse.Inpractice,peoplespendtimeonactivities,andnotforthem.Idiomisnotalwayslogical.   roxcyn SeniorMember USA AmericanEnglish[AmE] IagreethatIwoulduse"on,"too.Iamsayingthatifsomeoneused"for"withtimeormoney,tomeitsoundsokay.IwouldliketohearwhatsomeonefromUKortheCarribbeanhastosaybecauseasyouknowtherearealwaysdiffernetwaystosaythingsinEnglish. http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/s/s0625800.html   N nh01 SeniorMember Turkish Woulditbeidiomatictosay"Hespendsalotoftimeforher"?Orshoulditbe"onher"again?Thanks.   elroy Moderator:EHL,Arabic,Hebrew,German(-Spanish) Chicago,IL USEnglish,PalestinianArabicbilingual "Onher"--butitsoundslikespendingtimewithherisaburden,orthespeakeriscriticizingthefactthatthisguyspendssomuchtimewithher.Ifyouwantittobeneutral(orpositive),say"withher."   Lastedited:Mar18,2019 F Franco-filly SeniorMember SouthernEngland English-SouthernEngland or"Hesparesalotoftimeforher"i.e.makeshimselfavailablesothathecanspendtimewithher.   N nh01 SeniorMember Turkish elroysaid: "Onher"--butitsoundslikespendingtimewithherisaburden,orthatthespeakeriscriticizingthefactthatthisguyspendssomuchtimewithher.Ifyouwantittobeneutral(orpositive),say"withher." Clicktoexpand... Thankyouforyourexplanation.Soifwesaid"hedoesn'twanttospendtime",would"forher"work?Ifnotagain,does"hedoesn'twanttowastetimeforher"work?Thanks.   elroy Moderator:EHL,Arabic,Hebrew,German(-Spanish) Chicago,IL USEnglish,PalestinianArabicbilingual No,it's"on"(or"with")inbothcases: Hedoesn'twanttospendanytimeon/withher. Hedoesn'twanttowasteanytimeon/withher.   N nh01 SeniorMember Turkish Thankyouforallreplies. Franco-fillysaid: or"Hesparesalotoftimeforher"i.e.makeshimselfavailablesothathecanspendtimewithher. Clicktoexpand... Ithink"spare"heremeans"take",right? ButI'msearchingforanotherverbwhichissimilarto"spend"or"waste"andalsoIcanusewith"for".Whatabout"devote"? Hedoesn'twanttodevotehistimeforher.   elroy Moderator:EHL,Arabic,Hebrew,German(-Spanish) Chicago,IL USEnglish,PalestinianArabicbilingual Whydoyouwanttouse“for”?   F Franco-filly SeniorMember SouthernEngland English-SouthernEngland "forher"usuallymeans"onherbehalf"i.e."Hedoestheshoppingforher."Howcanheusetimeonherbehalf? TheonlyphraseIcanthinkofthatmightberelevantisthis: DefinitionofMAKETIMEFOR(SOMEONE)   N nh01 SeniorMember Turkish Thankyouallforyourpatience. Franco-fillysaid: TheonlyphraseIcanthinkofthatmightberelevantisthis: DefinitionofMAKETIMEFOR(SOMEONE) Clicktoexpand... Thankyou.Ithinkthisisastandardphrase.Socanwesay"make(my,her,his..)timeforsomeone"?Andisthisphraseand"taketimeforsomeone"equalinmeaning?Thanks. Hedoesn'twanttomakehistimeforher. Hedoesn'twanttotakehistimeforher. Thanks.   F Franco-filly SeniorMember SouthernEngland English-SouthernEngland nh01said: Andisthisphraseand"taketimeforsomeone"equalinmeaning?Thanks. Hedoesn'twanttomakehistimeforher. Hedoesn'twanttotakehistimeforher. . Clicktoexpand... No.Don'tuse"taketimefor.."andtheidiomaticphrasedoesnotcontain"his/her"i.e.it's"maketimefor"not"makehis/hertimefor"   kentix SeniorMember English-U.S. Inmymind,whenyousay"maketimeforher",it's"maketimeforher".Forgoeswithtime.Notwithher.Youareadjustingyourscheduleforapurpose.Inthiscaseit'sher,butit'snotforherinthesenseofagift.(i.e.It'sdifferentthan"Iboughtthisringforher.") Youcouldalsosay"maketimeforexercising".Youarenotgivinganythingtotheexercising.Youareadjustingyourtimefor(=inordertoaccomplish)thatactivity.   N nh01 SeniorMember Turkish Thanksforallreplies. Franco-fillysaid: or"Hesparesalotoftimeforher"i.e.makeshimselfavailablesothathecanspendtimewithher. Clicktoexpand... Canthisverbcontinuewith"my/your/his"etc.?Thanks. Hespareshistimeforher.   Youmustloginorregistertoreplyhere. Share: Facebook Twitter Reddit WhatsApp Email Share Link EnglishOnly EnglishOnly Top