TPS News

Correct best answer: Replace “loosing” with “losing.”

“With the leaves slowly losing their chlorophyll and the green of summer succumbing to autumn, the leaves’ yellow and orange emerged to brighten the forest.”

This happens frequently because the words are confusingly similar in meaning and spelling. Yet they are not interchangeable. The primary definition of “loosing” is to be not securely attached, which is akin to the more often-used “loosening.” Only the secondary definition of “loosing” matches that of “losing,” which means to suffer loss. A leaf loses its color—it turns brown or yellow. The pigment is not just suspended, that is, loosed (loosened), to return again in leaves fallen to the ground in winter. This writing error happens from sloppy typing or inadequate proofing—but sometimes from misunderstanding the different primary meanings of the words. Primary definitions usually are preferable because they are more generally in use.
這類錯誤常發生在詞彙的意思和拼法相近、容易混淆，但不能混用的時候。「Loosing」最主要的意思是「鬆動」，意思接近「loosening」一詞，不過 loosening 比較常用。「Loosing」的第二個意思「失去」才接近「losing」的意思。葉子變棕或變黃時，其色素不僅是暫時消失或「鬆動」(loosed or loosened)，而是就此「失去」(lose)。色素不會重新出現在冬天的落葉上。這種錯誤可能來自打字不小心或校對不仔細，有時也可能源於誤解了詞彙的主要意義。主要意義比較常用，選詞時應該優先考慮。