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'It took me three hours to...' vs. 'I spent three hours to...'



 
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'It took me three hours to...' vs. 'I spent three hours to...' #1 (permalink) Wed Feb 07, 2007 19:02 pm   'It took me three hours to...' vs. 'I spent three hours to...'
 

Hi

Could you explain the difference between saying
'It took me about four hours to...[fix the bug, translate the text...]'
and
'I spent about four hours to...'
?

I just need to choose more 'adequate' form to inform some one (giving the objective data) + express that I spent more time than I had expected. But not in negative sense, just neutral. I did my best, but maybe someone else could have done it faster.

Or they both are exactly the same in this sense?
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'It took me three hours to...' vs. 'I spent three hours to...' #2 (permalink) Wed Feb 07, 2007 20:12 pm   'It took me three hours to...' vs. 'I spent three hours to...'
 

It took me four hours to eat the pizza.

I spent four hours eating the pizza. (or "...finishing the pizza.")

You would not ever say "I spent about four hours TO...".

verb+ing must follow the clause, or a pronoun/prep phrase like "with her":

I spent four hours driving. (I drove for four hours.)

I spent four hours with her. (I was with her for four hours.)

I spent four hours there. (I was there for four hours.)

I spent four hours in the fire. (I burned to a crisp.)
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'It took me three hours to...' vs. 'I spent three hours to...' #3 (permalink) Wed Feb 07, 2007 21:46 pm   'It took me three hours to...' vs. 'I spent three hours to...'
 

Oops...
Thanks a lot, Tom! You've realy saved me from the burning. :)

Quote:
verb+ing must follow the clause, or a pronoun/prep phrase

I'll spend some time ON learning this.
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'It took me three hours to...' vs. 'I spent three hours to...' #4 (permalink) Wed Feb 07, 2007 23:16 pm   'It took me three hours to...' vs. 'I spent three hours to...'
 

now you're just pulling my leg!
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'It took me three hours to...' vs. 'I spent three hours to...' #5 (permalink) Thu Feb 08, 2007 16:10 pm   'It took me three hours to...' vs. 'I spent three hours to...'
 

prezbucky wrote:
It took me four hours to eat the pizza.

I spent four hours eating the pizza. (or "...finishing the pizza.")

You would not ever say "I spent about four hours TO...".

verb+ing must follow the clause, or a pronoun/prep phrase like "with her":

I spent four hours driving. (I drove for four hours.)

I spent four hours with her. (I was with her for four hours.)

I spent four hours there. (I was there for four hours.)

I spent four hours in the fire. (I burned to a crisp.)


Good point. I would make mistakes with such sentences if I did not know this.
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