Translation guide
How to express the act of using money to buy things or pay for services in Japanese, with attention to natural phrasing and common patterns.
To say that someone spends money, in a general sense.
The most common and neutral way to say 'spend money'. Literally 'use money'.
He spends a lot of money every month.
Don't spend money wastefully.
A more formal or literary verb meaning 'to spend (money, time, effort)'. Often used in written contexts.
He spent a large amount of money on the project.
A more casual or blunt version of お金を使う, using 金 (かね) instead of お金. Common in informal speech.
That guy is always wasting money.
To express spending money on a particular item or purpose.
Use the particle に to mark the purpose or item. This is the standard pattern.
He spent a lot of money on his car.
I'm spending too much money on my hobbies.
Literally 'to put money into something'. Implies investing or spending a significant amount, often with a sense of commitment.
To express excessive or wasteful spending.
To describe spending money on activities rather than physical goods.
To talk about regular expenses or the act of spending in a routine context.
A noun/verb meaning 'expenditure' or 'to spend'. More formal and often used in financial contexts.
We had more expenses than expected this month.
The English verb 'spend' can be used for both time and money. In Japanese, 使う (つかう) works for money, but for time, you usually use 過ごす (すごす) or 費やす (ついやす). Do not use 使う for time unless it's a specific context like 'spend time on a task' (時間を使う).
spend time (leisure)
spend time (on a task)
お金を使う is general 'spend money'. お金をかける implies investing or putting money into something with a purpose, often with a nuance of effort or large amount. かける is not used for trivial purchases.
I spent 1000 yen on lunch. (neutral)
He spends money on education.
He squandered money and got into debt.
Tourists spend a lot of money in the town.
子供の教育に金をかけている。
I'm investing money in my child's education.