spent
/spɛnt/
spent is pronounced spent (/spɛnt/). Spent denotes having used up or exhausted resources, time, or money. It can describe past action (you spent the money) or describe something done so thoroughly it’s no longer useful. In phrases, it often signals completed duration or prior investment, with precise, context-dependent timing. The term is concise, concrete, and is frequently used in everyday and professional discourse.
Spent denotes having used up or exhausted resources, time, or money. It can describe past action (you spent the money) or describe something done so thoroughly it’s no longer useful. In phrases, it often signals completed duration or prior investment, with precise, context-dependent timing. The term is concise, concrete, and is frequently used in everyday and professional discourse.
"I spent two hours editing the report before submission."
"She spent all her savings on the new laptop."
"We spent the afternoon in the park, enjoying the sunshine."
Pronounce it as /spɛnt/ with a short, lax front vowel. Start with the initial /sp/ cluster, then /ɛ/ as in 'bed', and end with /nt/. Ensure the tongue tip makes contact for the final /n/ and /t/ release without extra voicing. IPA: US/UK/AU /spɛnt/. Listen to native speech for subtle vowel quality, then practice replacing any unclear vowel by keeping the single short /ɛ/ sound steady.
Common errors include elongating the vowel so it becomes /spiːnt/ or /speːnt/, adding a schwa before /nt/ as in /spənt/, or not fully releasing the final /t/ so it sounds like /spɛnt/ with a hard stop or a cut-off. To correct, keep the vowel short and lax, practice a clean /t/ release immediately after /nt/, and avoid adding extra vowel sound between /p/ and /s/. Practice with minimal pairs like spent vs speant (not standard) to confirm the correct length.
In US, UK, and AU, the core /spɛnt/ pronunciation remains but vowel quality varies slightly. US tends to have a more open /ɛ/ in 'bed' vowel but remains short; UK may exhibit a slightly closer or rounded /e/ quality, and AU tends to be less rhotic with a potentially softer /t/ release in casual speech. Stress remains on the single syllable. Final /nt/ can be more dental or alveolar depending on rapid speech. Overall, the difference is subtle and often arises from vowel position and fluency.
Because it requires precise vowel shortening and a crisp final /nt/ sequence. The /ɛ/ vowel must stay short and lax without drifting into /e/ or /i/. The /n/ and /t/ must be clearly enunciated in a quick closure, which can be challenging in connected speech where surrounding sounds blur the boundary. Fast or careful speech can cause vowel lengthening or a glottalized /t/. Focus on a clean, quick /t/ release after /n/ while keeping the tongue low-mid for /ɛ/.
Yes, the word’s single-syllable structure hinges on a crisp onset cluster /spr-/ simplified to /sp-/, followed by a short /ɛ/ vowel and a clear alveolar stop sequence /nt/. Some speakers conflate the /t/ with a light dental stop or a glottal stop in rapid speech, so for clarity aim for a full /nt/ release. The tension between an open vowel and a compact final cluster makes awareness of tongue position and air pressure essential.
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Spent comes from Old English spenden, which meant to expend or pay out money or goods. The root is related to the Proto-Germanic *spendan, which carried the sense of spending or paying out. Over time, the verb narrowed in English to indicate the act of using up resources; the past participle spent emerged in the Middle English period and has remained stable in Modern English as the principal past tense form for spend. The semantic field broadened in usage to cover not just money but time and energy, leading to phrases like spent time, spent energy, and spent resources. The word has kept strong ties to notions of consumption, allocation, and duration, and is widely used across both informal and formal contexts. First known uses can be traced to early English texts where spending money on goods and services was a common economic activity, and the word gradually generalized to “allocate or expend” in broader contexts by the 16th–17th centuries.
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Help others use "spent" correctly by contributing grammar tips, common mistakes, and context guidance.
💡 These words have similar meanings to "spent" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "spent" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "spent"
-ent sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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