关键词: spend… + to do sth, 语法误用, 例证, 公道

Abstract: It is an open secret that “spend … + to do sth.” has long been treated as a grammatical error， while “spend … （in） doing sth.” stays a victor across the Chinese Mainland. Yet， plenty of linguistic data show that the former has enjoyed its constant presence in formal writing of every kind， so this paper attempts to do it justice through some examples.

Key words: spend … + to do sth., grammatical error, example, justice