• @[email protected]
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    11 months ago

    Loose (verb) = “to let loose” = “to free” (verb), so “loose their power” implies freeing or expressing their power. (Having power)

    Lose (verb) = “to not have any more” (lost), so “lose their power” implies no longer having their power. (Not having power).

    “Loose” and “lose” are completely different words. “Loose” is commonly written incorrectly online for “lose”, so many English speakers make this mistake when writing it.

    Editing to add that “loose” is very rarely used as a verb in the way described - it’s archaic and nobody would use it in conversation - it is normally an adjective meaning “not tight”. The main thing is to remember that “lose”, like “lost” is spelled with a single “o” and “loose”, like “not tight” has two.

    • @[email protected]
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      611 months ago

      Oh! I get it now, thank you :) I’m realizing after the fact that the spelling of these have confused me before, now it makes sense why!

      • @reddig33
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        211 months ago

        Don’t feel bad, the spelling confuses a lot of native speakers as well.

        • Jo Miran
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          211 months ago

          This whole “loose/lose” thread exemplifies a big difference in feel between exchanges in Lemmy vs reddit. One takes the opportunity to educate, the other never misses a chance to ridicule.

          • @[email protected]
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            111 months ago

            to be completely fair, both has a bit of both, though as a general trend I agree with you.