無くす
なくす
hepburn nakusu
to lose (something)
Part of speech · godan-verb
Pattern visualization
no decomposition available
Examples
- 財布をなくした。I lost my wallet.
- 希望をなくす。I lose hope.
Collocations
なくす (nakusu, lose, transitive)なくなる (nakunaru, be lost, intransitive)失くす (nakusu, kanji)亡くす (nakusu, lose a person)落とす (otosu, drop, related)
Mnemonic
Nakusu (なくす) is the godan transitive for "lose / get rid of." Paired with nakunaru. Hiragana default; kanji split: 失くす for objects or abstracts (saifu, kibou, jishin); 亡くす for losing a person (chichi, haha, tomodachi, pets). Cultural code: 亡くす carries heavy emotional weight; 失くす is everyday. Sibling verbs: otosu (drop, lose by dropping — covered), wasureru (forget = lose from memory), ushinau (formal lose). Nuance: 失くす = unknown location; 落とす = dropped somewhere; 忘れる = left behind with clear location. Japans lost-item culture covered in otosu. Korean ilta, Chinese diu / shiqu diverge. JLPT N5 nakusu pairs with 失 / 亡 kanji split.
Quick check
Correct kanji for "chichi wo __"?