Expressions with the Verb “Perdre” – to Lose – in French

A upper-intermediate list of 9 French words for expressions with the verb “perdre” – to lose -, each with an example sentence to show it in context.

French	English	Example sentence
perdre	to lose	Il ne veut rien perdre. He doesn’t want to lose anything.
perdre la boule	to lose [one’s] marbles	Il a perdu la boule complètement. He has completely lost his marbles.
perdre le Nord	to get confused	Elle a perdu le Nord dans ce chaos. She got confused in this chaos.
perdre le fil	to lose track	Je perds le fil de la conversation. I lose track of the conversation.
perdre une occasion	to miss an opportunity	Il a perdu une occasion en or. He missed a golden opportunity.
perdre de vue [quelque chose]	to lose sight of [something]	Ne perds pas de vue ton objectif. Don’t lose sight of your goal.
en perdre son latin	to be unable to make heads or tails of something	J’en perds mon latin avec ce problème. I can’t make heads or tails of this problem.
perdre la face	to lose face	Il a peur de perdre la face. He fears losing face.
perdre du temps	to waste time	Ne perds pas de temps. Don’t waste time.

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