"It's a satire on people with creative writing degrees." ~ Coati
Having trouble with "lose" vs. "loose" and are unsure of what the difference between past and present tense is? This just may be the book for you.
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Hold on to those loose hats, ladies and gents, lest you lose them! This one's a common, common, common error I see on Wattpad. I do believe it's mostly seen in works by those whose second or third language is English (Off topic, but I applaud all you bilingual and multilingual writers!)
Let's get down to it!
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According to Google's expansive dictionary:
Lose: to be deprived of or cease to have or retain (something):
"I've lost my appetite" · "Linda was very upset about losing her job" · "the company may find itself losing customers to cheaper rivals"
It can also mean, "unable to find something" or "fail to win."
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And then we have "loose."
"Loose" has a number of definitions, but most are quite similar, so we'll condense this one:
1. Not firmly or tightly fixed in place; detached or able to be detached
"a loose tooth" · "the truck's trailer came loose"
2. Not held or tied together; not packaged or placed in a container:
"wear your hair loose" · "pockets bulging with loose change"
3. "Loose" has many different forms. When used in comparison, "looser" can be used (my bracelet is looser than yours). This should not be used as "the looser of a game", because in that case, it is incorrect.
4. The word "loosest" is the superlative form of "loose," and really doesn't look like a word in my mind. It can be used in a sentence such as: my bracelet is the loosest of all.
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As you may see, "lose" is a verb, though some variations of the word, such as "loser," are nouns or predicate nouns (The loser lost. She is such a loser).
"Loose" is an adjective to describe something that is barely attached or is not attached at all (a loose tooth). It can also be a verb, "I loosened my hold on the steering wheel." It can also be an adverb (loosely).
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Common errors I see with these terms are sentences in which "lose" is replaced with "loose." For instance, I don't want to loose the game! Since "lose" is the opposite of winning a game, the sentence should be written as, I don't want to lose the game!
Less commonly do I see the opposite error (My shoelace is lose), but let's be honest-probably every single grammatical error has a home somewhere here on Wattpad.
To summarize, "lose" is to no longer have something or to 'fail to win' (you lose the game, or you lose your necklace). "Loose" means not attached well or not attached at all (you have a loose tooth, or your hair is loose).
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Thanks for reading! If you have questions or suggestions, feel free to reach out.
Here's a repeat of the questions above:
Correct or Incorrect?
"I loose every time!" Incorrect
"I lost my shoelace!" Correct
"The shoelace is loose." Correct
"If you loosen the shoelace, you will loose it." Correct; Incorrect
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