花 (huā) is the everyday verb for "spend" — and unlike English, it stretches naturally over both money and time. Where English switches verbs ("I spent a hundred dollars" but "it took three days"), Chinese uses the one verb 花 for both: 花钱 (spend money) and 花时间 (spend/take time). The thing consumed — money or a stretch of time — is the object of 花. This page teaches the two frames that cover almost all real usage and shows how 花 divides labor with 用 (use). (The same character 花 is also the noun "flower," but context keeps them apart — nobody misreads 花了三天.)
Frame 1: 花 + amount + (doing something)
The bare pattern is (subject) + 花 + amount + verb phrase: how much money or time was consumed, optionally followed by what it was consumed doing. The perfective 了 attaches to 花.
我花了一百块。
wǒ huā le yìbǎi kuài
I spent a hundred kuai. (informal) — 花 + amount of money, the simplest frame.
我花了三个小时做作业。
wǒ huā le sān ge xiǎoshí zuò zuòyè
I spent three hours doing homework. (informal) — 花 + duration + what I did.
学中文很花时间，但是很值得。
xué Zhōngwén hěn huā shíjiān, dànshì hěn zhídé
Learning Chinese takes a lot of time, but it's worth it. (neutral) — 花时间 as a general statement, no 了.
The cost frame: 花 + (someone) + amount
A very common variant names the person the cost fell on: thing + 花 + person + amount. This is how you say something "cost me" money or time, or "took me" so long. The person sits between 花 and the amount.
这件事花了我三天。
zhè jiàn shì huā le wǒ sān tiān
This took me three days. (neutral) — 花了我三天: the matter cost me three days.
这台电脑花了我八千块。
zhè tái diànnǎo huā le wǒ bāqiān kuài
This computer cost me eight thousand kuai. (informal) — the computer is the subject, 我 the person, 八千块 the amount.
别为这点小事花那么多时间。
bié wèi zhè diǎn xiǎoshì huā nàme duō shíjiān
Don't spend so much time on such a trivial thing. (informal) — negative command with 别.
Frame 2: 花 + amount + 在 + noun + 上
To say what the money or time went on, Chinese wraps the target in 在 … 上 ("on the surface of…"). The amount comes first, then 在 + the thing + 上. The 上 is not optional — it closes the "on X" envelope, and leaving it off sounds broken.
他把钱都花在书上了。
tā bǎ qián dōu huā zài shū shàng le
He spent all his money on books. (neutral) — 把 fronts 钱; 在书上 says what it went on.
她每天花很多时间在化妆上。
tā měi tiān huā hěn duō shíjiān zài huàzhuāng shàng
She spends a lot of time on makeup every day. (informal) — time + 在化妆上, the 'on' envelope.
我们花了一下午逛街。
wǒmen huā le yí xiàwǔ guàngjiē
We spent a whole afternoon shopping. (informal) — with a plain verb (逛街) you don't need 在…上; the activity follows directly.
花 vs 用: spend versus use
花 and 用 overlap on time but not on money. 花 frames the resource as consumed / used up — money and time only. 用 means "use" more broadly: a tool, a method, a language — and it can also express time in a plainer, more neutral way (用了三天 "took three days"). The clean rule: for money, only 花. For a tool or method, only 用. For time, both work, with 花 stressing the cost and 用 sounding more matter-of-fact.
| Object | 花 | 用 |
|---|---|---|
| money (钱) | ✅ 花钱 | ❌ (not for spending money) |
| time (时间) | ✅ 花时间 (stresses cost) | ✅ 用时间 (neutral) |
| a tool / method (方法) | ❌ | ✅ 用这个方法 |
我用这个办法解决了问题，只花了十分钟。
wǒ yòng zhège bànfǎ jiějué le wèntí, zhǐ huā le shí fēnzhōng
I solved the problem with this method and it only took ten minutes. (neutral) — 用 for the method, 花 for the time.
Common Mistakes
1. Using a literal "take" verb for time. English "it took me three days" is not 拿 or 带; it's 花.
❌ 这件事拿了我三天。
Incorrect — 拿 is physical 'take/hold'; for time spent, use 花.
✅ 这件事花了我三天。
zhè jiàn shì huā le wǒ sān tiān
This took me three days. — 花 covers time as well as money.
2. Dropping 上 in the 在…上 frame. The "on X" envelope must close with 上.
❌ 他把钱花在书。
Incorrect — 'spend on X' needs the closing 上: 花在书上.
✅ 他把钱花在书上。
tā bǎ qián huā zài shū shàng
He spent the money on books. — 在书上 completes the phrase.
3. Putting the person after the amount. In the cost frame, the person comes before the amount.
❌ 这件事花了三天我。
Incorrect — the affected person comes first: 花了我三天.
✅ 这件事花了我三天。
zhè jiàn shì huā le wǒ sān tiān
This took me three days. — 我 before 三天.
4. Using 花 for spending on a tool or method. 花 is money and time only; a method takes 用.
❌ 我花了这个方法。
Incorrect — 花 doesn't take a method; use 用这个方法.
✅ 我用了这个方法。
wǒ yòng le zhège fāngfǎ
I used this method. — 用 for tools and methods.
Key Takeaways
- 花 (huā) means "spend," covering both money and time where English splits "spend" and "take."
- Frame 1: 花 + amount + (verb phrase): 花了三个小时做作业. The cost variant names the person: 花了我三天.
- Frame 2: what it went on = 花 + amount + 在 … 上: 花在书上. The 上 is required.
- 花 vs 用: money → only 花; a tool or method → only 用; time → both, with 花 stressing the cost.
- Attach 了 to 花 for completed spending, and use 别 / 不要 to tell someone not to spend.
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