To lose vs. to get lost / Perder vs pérderse- 5 minutes of Spanish + Podcast

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Welcome to podcast 268. Thanks for joining us. So… what are we going to talk about today? Verbs that change meaning?

Something like that. “Perder” and “perderse” are two very similar verbs, but they don’t mean exactly the same thing. And yes… they often cause a bit of trouble for people learning Spanish. Especially when someone says, “I lost my cell phone” or “I got lost in the city center.”

Because it’s one thing to lose something, and quite another to get lost.

“Perder,” without the reflexive pronoun “se,” usually means that you no longer have something, that it disappeared, or that you didn’t win.

Perdí mis lentes.
I lost my glasses.

Perdimos el partido.
We lost the game.

¿Dónde está mi pasaporte? ¡Lo perdí!
Where is my passport? I lost it!

And to lose oneself, in a contemplative sense, means to become disoriented, to not know where you are, or even to disappear from the world for a little while.

Me perdí en Ciudad de México.
I got lost in Mexico City.

Nos perdimos buscando el restaurante.
We got lost looking for the restaurant.

A veces es bueno perderse un poco para descubrir lugares nuevos.
Sometimes it’s good to get a little lost to discover new places.

Ah, how philosophical…

Yeah, well, but it’s true. A lot of the time when we travel through Latin America, we get a little lost. And that’s part of the adventure, too.

Although it’s harder to get lost now…

Sure, because we have GPS.

Exactly. Back then, people really did get lost. You had to unfold a giant paper map in the middle of the street and pretend you knew what you were doing.

Or ask for directions.

perder el tiempo — to waste time
perder la paciencia — to lose patience
perder la cabeza — to go crazy / to lose your mind

A veces, cuando estás muy cansado te puedes perder en una conversación o haciendo cuentas. getting lost in a conversation or doing calculations

Uy me perdí, tengo que hacer la cuenta otra vez.

Oops, I'm lost, I have to do the calculation again.

perder el miedo — to lose fear

Oh, it's important to get over your fear when you speak Spanish.

Yeah, because if you're afraid of making mistakes, you won't speak. But once you get over that fear, you start chatting, asking questions, joking around, and communicating better.

And you might also miss the bus.

Perdí el autobús porque me desperté tarde.
I missed the bus because I woke up late.

Perdimos el vuelo, ¿te pasó alguna vez?
We missed the flight.

Mi amigo perdió la cartera en la playa.
My friend lost his wallet on the beach.

And as for grammar, “perder” is an irregular verb.

Replace the “e” with “ie”:

I lose

You lose

He loses

But in the past tense, it doesn't change:

I lost

You lost

He lost

Let's look at some synonyms.

Synonyms for “perder”:

misplace, squander, waste.

Any examples?

And as for grammar, “perder” is an irregular verb.

Replace the “e” with “ie”:

I lose

You lose

He loses

But in the past tense, it doesn't change:

I lost

You lost

He lost

Let's look at some synonyms.

Synonyms for “perder”:

misplace, squander, waste.

Any examples?

Well… it’s not always a waste of time.

You’re right.

What about getting lost?

Losing your bearings, disappearing, getting confused.

I thought the hotel was nearby, but we got lost again.

That happens a lot on the narrow streets of Mexico.

Especially when you ask for directions and someone tells you:

“It’s just around the corner.”

And you end up walking for forty minutes.

Exactly.

A very common phrase?

I don’t want to miss this opportunity!

Or:

I missed my Spanish class.

Now that’s sad.

What about you? Have you ever gotten