Spendere

Spendere is an Italian verb meaning to use up resources, especially money, but also time or energy. It is used both literally, to describe paying out money, and figuratively, to indicate the allocation or consumption of non-material resources. Common phrases include spendere soldi, spendere tempo, spendere energia, and spendere una fortuna (to spend a fortune).

Etymology and scope: spendere derives from the Latin spendere and entered Italian with a meaning closely related to using or consuming resources. In modern Italian it covers a broad range of spending, from everyday purchases to investments and budgeting decisions, as well as more abstract notions of time or effort expended on tasks.

Grammatical notes: spendere is a verb of the second conjugation (-ere) and is transitive, taking a direct object when referring to money or material resources. The verb forms a standard pattern with the past participle speso, used with avere to form compound tenses (ho speso, hai speso, ha speso, etc.). The present indicative forms are io spendo, tu spendi, lui/lei spende, noi spendiamo, voi spendete, loro spendono. Other tenses follow regular -ere endings: spendevo, spendevi, spendeva, spendemmo, spendevate, spendevano in the imperfect; spenderò, spenderai, spenderà, spenderemo, spenderete, spenderanno in the future. Subjunctive: che io spenda, che tu spenda, che lui/lei spenda, che noi spendiamo, che voi spendiate, che loro spendano. Imperative: spendi, spenda, spendiamo, spendete, spendano.

Usage guidance: spendere commonly collocates with money (spendere soldi, una cifra), time (spendere tempo), and resources (spendere energia). Prepositions vary by context: spendere per qualcosa (to spend for/on something) and spendere in qualcosa (to spend in a category). Idioms include spendere una fortuna (to spend a fortune) and spendere soldi a palate (to spend a lot).