WHICH WORD: LOSS, LOST, LOSE, LOOSE? 1
✓ Useful for TOEFL
✓ Useful for Cambridge B2/C1
DID YOU KNOW?
Loss, lost, lose, and loose — four words, four different meanings, and one of the most googled grammar questions in English.
Lose is a verb (to fail to keep something); loss is its noun form; lost is the past tense and past participle; loose is an adjective meaning not tight. Mixing them up — particularly lose/loose — is flagged as a Lexical Resource error in IELTS and a vocabulary accuracy issue in TOEFL writing.
Cambridge Use of English (Part 1 — multiple choice cloze) uses these four forms as distractors precisely because they’re so commonly confused. Sorting them out once and for all is a small investment with a reliable exam payoff.
Loss, lost, lose, and loose — four words, four different meanings, and one of the most googled grammar questions in English.
Lose is a verb (to fail to keep something); loss is its noun form; lost is the past tense and past participle; loose is an adjective meaning not tight. Mixing them up — particularly lose/loose — is flagged as a Lexical Resource error in IELTS and a vocabulary accuracy issue in TOEFL writing.
Cambridge Use of English (Part 1 — multiple choice cloze) uses these four forms as distractors precisely because they’re so commonly confused. Sorting them out once and for all is a small investment with a reliable exam payoff.
Complete each of the following sentences with loss, lost, lose, or loose, whichever fits best.
Example: The tourists seemed lost.
1. She was at a ________________ for words.
2. I was checking to see if I had any ________________ change in my pocket.
3. The ________________ clothing he wore didn’t show off his muscles.
4. The ________________ was pretty hard to take.
5. They were making up for ________________ time.
6. The bank robbers were still on the ________________.
7. They ________________ another game last week.
8. That was their sixth consecutive ________________.
9. If I don’t go, I’ll ________________ out on a great opportunity.
10. What do you have to ________________?
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Loss, lost, lose, or loose? 1
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WHOLE or ALL? 1 (I)
DO or MAKE? 1 (B)
