How to pronounce “lose”
Say “lose” in one beat
lose
/luz/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /luːz/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- loseluz
- IPA (American)
- /luz/
- IPA (British)
- /luːz/
- Respelling
- LOOZ
- Syllables
- 1 — lose
- Stress
- One syllable, so the whole word carries the beat — say /luz/ in one unbroken piece rather than clipping the vowel.
- Part of speech
- verb
- Difficulty
- Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
American and British are not the same here
/luz/
/luːz/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
Where “lose” goes wrong
- Often heard
“LOOSS”
lose ends in a z; loose ends in a hissing s
What “lose” means
- verb
fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense
“She lost her purse when she left it unattended on her seat”
- verb
fail to win
“We lost the battle but we won the war”
- verb
suffer the loss of a person through death or removal
“She lost her husband in the war”
Say it in a sentence
“It is easy to lose track of time in that reading room.”“lose”, answered
How do you pronounce “lose”?
“lose” is pronounced /luz/ (LOOZ) in American English and /luːz/ in British English — one syllable. It is one unbroken piece — /luz/ — with no pause anywhere inside it.
How many syllables does “lose” have?
One, despite the 2 vowel letters in the spelling. The whole word is /luz/ — a single beat.
Is “lose” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /luz/ (LOOZ); British English says /luːz/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “lose” mean?
As a verb: fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense For example: “She lost her purse when she left it unattended on her seat” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “lose”?
One syllable, so the whole word carries the beat — say /luz/ in one unbroken piece rather than clipping the vowel.
Now say “lose” and see every sound
Record it once and sayit lines your audio up against the target sound by sound — what landed, what slipped, and what it sounded like instead.