花钱(huā qián) - to spend money in Mandarin

花钱 (huāqián) means "to spend money". 花 (huā) is the verb "to spend" here, not its more famous meaning "flower", and 钱 (qián) is "money", so the compound is as literal as English "spend money".

Like many verb-object compounds in Mandarin, 花钱 (huāqián) can be split apart: 花了很多钱 (huāle hěn duō qián), "spent a lot of money", inserts the amount between 花 (huā) and 钱 (qián) rather than tacking it on afterwards. That word order trips up learners used to English, where the object always follows the verb directly.

Context decides whether 花钱 (huāqián) sounds neutral or critical. 乱花钱 (luàn huāqián), "to spend money carelessly", and 花钱大方 (huāqián dàfang), "generous with money", show the same base compound doing very different emotional work depending on what surrounds it.