Lose vs. Loose

Spelling rant! This drives me nuts—I see loose being used so often in place of lose, it seems like no one knows lose anymore. So here's how you can differentiate between the two and remember when to use which.

Lose is a verb. It rhymes with ooze and shoes. The past tense is lost. Would you ever spell lost as loost? No (because then that would rhyme with roost). Just switch the "e" for a "t" and you're set; no need to mess with the "o"s.

Loose is an adjective that rhymes with moose and goose. Would you ever spell them as mose or gose? Nope. But you can change loose to become looser and loosest.

If you need a visual, imagine you've got a pair of size 20 jeans that fit perfectly. You are the letter "o". If you lose weight so you are the size of one "o," two of you—two "o"s—will be able to fit in the jeans because they are loose. Get it? Lose weight and the jeans will be loose. I lost weight, so the jeans are loose.

Now I am going to go lose myself in a good book about a loose moose.