To spend time means to pass time with someone or somewhere, or to use it on an activity. With people and places, it is about passing time: spend time with friends. With tasks, it is about using time: spend time on homework, spend an hour cooking.
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spend time + -ing; spend time on + noun; spend time with + person; spend + period + in/at + place
- I spend about an hour a day answering emails before my meetings start.
- We spent the whole weekend with my grandparents in the countryside.
- Try not to spend too much time on the first question in the exam.
What changed
First versionI spend too much time for social media.
RevisionI spend too much time on social media.
For can creep in because of phrases like time for lunch. But after spend, the thing that takes up your time is introduced with on. It works just like spend money on.
If an action follows spend time, use the -ing form with no preposition: I spent the evening cleaning. To clean is a mistake here, even if you want to express a purpose. When time is lost for nothing, use waste time: I wasted an hour looking for my keys.
Your turn
Last weekend I spent six hours ___ for my driving test.
Show the answer
preparing — After spend and a period of time, the action takes the -ing form: spent six hours preparing. To prepare looks like a way of saying why, but this pattern doesn't use it.
Describe your normal week. Write what takes up most of your time and roughly how many hours it takes.
In a normal week, I spend most of my time working, about forty-five hours, and only three hours doing sport.
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