Keep your loose change in your pocket so you don’t lose it. Share / Tweet / Pin Me!

Mixed up English

The words loose and lose are mixed up in writing; for some reason, many people write loose when they really mean lose. But there’s no reason to lose your mind worrying about this, just lose the extra o!

Loose

Loose is an adjective, the opposite of "tight" or "contained."

I found some loose change under the couch. My pants are loose. I have a loose tooth. There’s a dog running loose in the street.

Lose

Lose is a verb that means "to suffer the loss of, to miss."

You’re going to lose that if you’re not careful. We need to lose some weight. I hope I don’t lose this tooth. I never lose bets.

The Bottom Line

Simple carelessness leads people to write loose when they mean lose. Just remember that lose has one o, and loose has two. Start with loose, lose an o, and what do you get? Lose!

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