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lose your way — get lost

collocationB1IELTS 5+neutraloccasional

to become unable to find the right direction or place, especially when traveling or walking somewhere.

Say it like a native

Textbook We became disoriented and could not locate the correct route.

Native We lost our way in the old town.

'Lose your way' is natural; the formal version is wordy. ('Get lost' is even more common in casual speech.)

Pattern: lose your way (somewhere)

In use

  • We lost our way in the forest and had to ask for directions.travel
  • During my trip to Paris, I lost my way several times because the streets were so confusing, but it helped me discover some interesting places.IELTS speaking

Common mistake

✗ We lost the way.

✓ We lost our way. / We got lost.

Use a possessive — 'lose YOUR/OUR way'.

Common collocations

  • lose your way — somewhere, completely, lost our, find

Don't confuse it

Not the same as 'miss your way,' which is not commonly used in English.

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