Lose weight means to become thinner and weigh less. To say how much, leave out the word weight: lose five kilos. The opposite, getting heavier, is put on weight or gain weight.
Want to remember lose weight?
Write a sentence — we'll show the mistakes right away and suggest how to say it more naturally.
The check is taking longer than usual. Your feedback will appear here automatically.
lose (some/a lot of) weight; lose + amount (lose five kilos); put on / gain weight
- My doctor advised me to lose some weight and walk more often.
- It's hard to lose weight when you work night shifts and eat at odd hours.
- He lost a lot of weight after he started cooking at home.
What changed
First versionI want to lose my weight before the summer holidays.
RevisionI want to lose weight before the summer holidays.
My is unnecessary here. In this expression weight doesn't take my, your or her: it is already clear whose weight it is. The extra my often appears by analogy with lose my keys or lose my phone, where you lose a specific thing.
Lose weight is the result, while go on a diet or be on a diet is the method: She went on a diet in January and lost six kilos by spring. If someone is dieting but hasn't got any thinner yet, they say: I'm on a diet, but I haven't lost any weight yet.
Your turn
My old jeans are too loose now because I ___ weight over the summer.
Show the answer
lost — The jeans are now too big, so the person has become thinner: lost weight. Put on weight means getting heavier, and then the jeans would be too tight.
Write about someone you know who has lost weight: say how many kilos they lost and how they did it.
My brother lost weight by cycling to work every day: eight kilos in just four months.
Learn to use new words without mistakes
Write phrases with the words you are learning. LetsWords shows mistakes in usage and grammar, suggests corrections and explains them, and review helps the words stick.