What are the differences between 落{お}とす, 失{うしな}う and 無{な}くす?


The first verb I learned to mean "to drop" was 落{お}とす ( _otosu_ ) as the
transitive form of the verb 落{お}ちる ( _ochiru_ ) (which means "to fall"). But
recently I met the verb 失{うしな}う ( _ushinau_ ) which according to Jisho.org is
also transitive and means "to lose; to part with​", which for me ends up being
equivalent to "to drop". And while searching about this, the verb 無{な}くす (
_nakusu_ ) also showed up in my search, and according to Jisho.org it also
means "to lose something", which at the first glance I thought to be
intransitive, but again Jisho says it is transitive.

**In short:** It looks like 落{お}とす ( _otosu_ ), 失{うしな}う ( _ushinau_ ) and
無{な}くす ( _nakusu_ ) are all transitive and mean "to drop". What are the
differences between them?




I would say 落とす ("to drop") and 失う ("to lose") are as different as night and
day. You can drop something without losing it (e.g., you can drop a spoon onto
the floor and then pick it up), and you can lose something without dropping it
(e.g., you can lose money in stocks). In some situations they effectively
refer to a similar thing; for example レストランで財布を無くしました is somehow close to
レストランで財布を落としました. But the former should be used if you believe your wallet was
stolen or you left it on the table.

失う and 無くす are interchangeable in many cases (e.g., お金を失う/無くす, 信用を失う/無くす,
家族を失う/無くす, やる気を失う/無くす). But 無くす can also mean actively getting rid of
something undesirable (e.g., 無駄をなくす, 赤字をなくす), whereas 失う always means losing
something you need. In addition, 失う is relatively more formal and 無くす tends to
be preferred in conversations.




I would say 落とす ("to drop") and 失う ("to lose") are as different as night and
day. You can drop something without losing it (e.g., you can drop a spoon onto
the floor and then pick it up), and you can lose something without dropping it
(e.g., you can lose money in stocks). In some situations they effectively
refer to a similar thing; for example レストランで財布を無くしました is somehow close to
レストランで財布を落としました. But the former should be used if you believe your wallet was
stolen or you left it on the table.

失う and 無くす are interchangeable in many cases (e.g., お金を失う/無くす, 信用を失う/無くす,
家族を失う/無くす, やる気を失う/無くす). But 無くす can also mean actively getting rid of
something undesirable (e.g., 無駄をなくす, 赤字をなくす), whereas 失う always means losing
something you need. In addition, 失う is relatively more formal and 無くす tends to
be preferred in conversations.

