It is common doubts such as: The car was a total loss or total loss? Or: Is this a waste or a waste of time? This confusion is due to the fact that “lose” and “loss” are paronyms, that is, words with similar spelling and pronunciation.
However, we will definitely clarify this imprecision about the use of “lose” and “loss”.
Loss: and the substantive which corresponds to the verb “to lose” and has an approximate meaning of “person who deprives himself of something or someone for some reason”, “harm suffered”, “damage”.
Examples: We are shaken by the loss of the championship.
Due to the loss of her sister-in-law, Talita was very sad.
The loss of discipline incites us to rebellion.
miss: is verb form of verb "lose", which can be in the first or third person singular of the present subjunctive or in the third person singular of the imperative.
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Examples: You don't want me to waste my time!
I don't want him to lose the smile on his lips!
Don't lose your backpack!
So, after the explanations above, we ask ourselves: Did the car show a total loss or a total loss? and Is this a waste or a waste of time?
First, the car as the subject of prayer cannot give anything away. Then someone claimed that the car had been damaged so badly that it could not be repaired, or that someone had lost the car entirely in an accident. In this sense of the phrase, it can only be “loss”.
Now, if someone is spoiling their time with something unproductive, then it is “waste” of time, even because “loss” is a noun, since the verb already exists in the sentence: “is”.
Therefore, it is correct to say: The car was a total loss and This is a waste of time.
By Sabrina Vilarinho
Graduated in Letters
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
VILARINHO, Sabrina. "Loss or Loss? "; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/gramatica/perca-ou-perda.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
