spent
/spent/ (bre, ipa) · /spent/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈspent/ (ame, mw)
spent — verb
- spentpresent simple I / you / we / they
- spents3rd person singular
- spenting-ing form
- spentedpast simple
1. the past tense and past-participle form of the verb 'spend', used when describin
the past tense and past-participle form of the verb 'spend', used when describing the use of money, time, or effort that happened before now — for example, 'I spent all my savings on a car' or 'She had already spent the whole morning cleaning.'
Ari spent the whole afternoon reading by the window.
simple past: spent + time period
When the guests arrived, Talia had already spent all her energy on the decorations.
past perfect: had spent + noun phrase
The government spent nearly two billion dollars on the new highway last year.
Hao spent his childhood in a small mountain village.
文法句型
spent + noun phrase (time / money / energy)
had + spent + noun phrase (past perfect)
常見錯誤
spent — adjective
- spentpositive
- spentercomparative
- spentestsuperlative
1. no longer able to work or produce results because the thing has been completely
no longer able to work or produce results because the thing has been completely consumed or used.
Otis tried to light the campfire, but the match was spent and gave no flame.
collocation: spent match
The battery in Amani's phone was spent, so she could not make any calls.
collocation: spent battery
After years of mining, the old gold mine was finally spent and closed down.
The factory cleaned the spent chemicals before releasing the water into the river.
文法句型
spent + noun (the thing no longer useful)
be / get + spent
用法筆記
Commonly describes objects like batteries, fuel, matches, or resources that have been fully consumed. Rarely used for people in this sense — for people, see the exhausted sense below.
常見錯誤
2. extremely tired to the point of having no physical or mental energy left, typica
extremely tired to the point of having no physical or mental energy left, typically after hard work, exercise, or emotional stress.
After running the marathon, Élise felt completely spent and sat down on the grass.
collocation: completely spent
The nurses looked spent after working twelve-hour shifts for a whole week.
collocation: look spent
Cyrus was too spent to argue, so he just nodded and went straight to bed.
At the end of exam week, the students were spent and wanted only to sleep.
文法句型
feel / be / look + spent
用法筆記
Usually describes living beings (people or animals) and typically appears in predicative position — 'I am spent' rather than 'a spent person.' Avoid pairing with 'very'; use 'completely' or 'totally' instead.