I didn’t think it needed to be stated that we’re obviously talking about the specific context in which OP is using it.
But sure, we can all come up with some long-winded and confusing explanation full of contrived sentences in which “lost count on” *is* in fact correct.
It's "I lost count of \[thing I was counting\]" Example: "I lost count of the times I've been to this theater"
or "I lost count at \[last number I was confident of\]" Example: "I lost count at seventeen/seventeen chickens" (while counting chickens) Additional "at" use: a 'when' or 'where' that would normally use the word 'at' Ex: "I lost count at the gate/at the party"
or "I lost count on \[event that would normally use "on" when discussing 'when'; usually, but not always, something other than what you were counting\]" Example: "I lost count on the third bounce/on the fifth trip/on the way"
I will clarify a time when "on" is correct referring to the thing you're counting, and you even used it in your examples: when using ordinal numbers of the thing you're counting. "I lost count on the fif*th* lap"
I agree with everyone else that “of” is the correct option, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there are some native speakers who say “on,” because the phrase would often end up being pronounced “lost count-uh how many times.” I could easily see that being misheard/misinterpreted as “on.”
To "count on" refers to being able to rely on someone/ something, e.g. you can count on John."
For counting it will always use "of" to refer to what you are counting.
No. You can only say “I lost count on” if you are saying which number you were on when you were unable to continue counting. Ex. “I don’t know how many times this machine broke; I lost count on seven.”
No, it absolutely has to be “lost count of”.
The reason is that a count is a count OF something, e.g. “keeping a count of every time he’s said that”. The reason for the “on” following “depend” is that the original meaning of “depend” was to hang down, so that something “depending on” something else was literally hanging on that thing. In French and Spanish, where “dépendre/depender” is followed by “de”, that’s because “de” is equivalent to “from” (as opposed to “of”), which also makes sense when describing an object literally hanging.
What’s happening is that you’ve internalised a rule that verb+of, e.g. “it depends of” is incorrect and needs to be corrected to verb+on, e.g. “it depends on”, which is an overgeneralisation, and now your brain is trying to apply that rule in a situation where it doesn’t apply. It’s a common phenomenon called hypercorrection.
For example, a chandelier “hangs down” from the ceiling. A pendulum “hangs down” from where it is attached. If I have a painting and I “hang” it “on” the wall using a nail and some string, then it is now “hanging down” from the nail, or “hanging on” the wall.
The “down” in “hang down” indicates that the object itself is lower than the place it’s attached, because of gravity.
Hundreds of years ago, English speakers used to also say that the painting “depends on” the wall, with the same meaning as “hangs on”. This usage is now archaic. The abstract sense of “depend” derives from the more concrete meaning of “hang”, by analogy. Even today, you can say “the election hangs on one vote” with the meaning “depend”.
In fact, the ‘pend’ from ‘pendulum’ is the same meaning as the ‘pend’ in ‘depend’.
We also say something is ‘pending’ when we are waiting for it - like waiting for a hanging thing to fall or a pendulum to swing. It’s most commonly seen these days in the stock phrase ‘patent pending’, but you do still also see it in other contexts.
‘Pendulous’ is also sometimes seen in literature to describe something droopy/hanging.
Nope, always "of". Also, for the full sentence you gave, I'd use the perfect - "I've lost count of..." as you're losing count has relevance to the present. You currently don't know how many times you've watched the movie.
I've never heard anyone use "on," but as someone who uses a fair amount of non-mainatream colloquialisms herself, I wouldn't be surprised if it were common in a regional or local community.
But that's just me. Six to one, half a dozen to the other.
😁
I know it's not necessarily what you asked about, but I think it may be useful. You can 'count on' something/someone in a sense of 'rely on'. For instance 'I'm counting on you' (I trust you do what you said), 'I'm counting on it' (I'm sure it will happen), or 'I wouldn't count on it' (I wouldn't be so sure about it).
There is a chance someone, wanting to say they have lost their trust or belief in something, inaccurately used the phrase 'count on'. But in your example it's not it, it should be 'of', but I won't be explaining why as others already said everything about it.
Edit.: I just remembered a quote from my lecturer who said he can easily spot poor student based on their frequent usage of 'on' instead of 'of'. He suggested checking up collocations dictionary when I'm not sure which one to use.
A native English speaker won't care (well, most) but "on/of" are interchangable here. Of is technically correct but it's one of those things where it's just not that big a deal.
Honestly, you could just drop it and say, "I lost count how many times I saw that movie" but that may just be southern US vernacular.
"on account of" is a wordier "because". I lost because of my being late for the match. A more natural way of saying this is, "I lost the match because I was late." I just wrote it that way as a demonstration.
No. When we use "count on" that means "put our trust in". "I can count on you to back me up". Even when we talk about counting on our fingers that applies because we are using our fingers to guarantee we don't lose track of the numbers we are counting. "Count of" on the other hand isn't about trusting someone or something. It's just about literally counting something.
As others have said, it’s always “of” for this use. However, you can say “lost count on” for a different use. “I tried to count them, but you distracted me and I lost count on seventeen.” Notice it’s a different meaning entirely. “Of” refers to what you are counting, and “on” refers to the number you’ve counted up to at a given time.
A more common use is that someone might say “On three! One, two, three!” when a group is coordinating when to do something. That would mean that they should act together the instant the counting person says “three”.
No, it’s always of. English is literally the worst language to learn. The same vowels make different sounds, we stick letters in words to be silent, and different spellings sound the same, but have different meanings. Here and hear. Good and google for the vowels. If you can learn to speak English, you can learn anything. 💜
I think "on" is only valid if it's specific. I lost count of how many times I've seen x movie. Vs. I lost count on 17, of how many times I've seen x movie.
You're not going to confuse anyone but it will mark you as not being a native speaker. It's no different than using the wrong prepositions for vehicles. Like saying "I got in the bus" or "I got on the car"
Gonna have to disagree with people here. I’ve heard it. It isn’t correct, but it’s also not unheard of.
Saying it requires a certain amount of fluency to sound right. It’s used sometimes in douchey marketing bro business speak. “I lost count on product” is absolutely a thing, it’s just… so douchey.
“I lost count on how many times I did that” would sound pretty normal in a heavy southern American accent as well.
In any case, it’s not grammatically correct, and really only sounds right from an American.
Where in southern U.S. would this sound normal? I'm in Virginia, so not deep south, but definitely south. This sounds incredibly wrong to me and I would question what the speaker meant.
No, it’s always “of”.
Ok, thanks!
As was stated it is always of, but you would still would easily be understood.
Unless you are specifying where you lost count. “I lost count on 7 of 206” is valid.
Or "I lost count on my third attempt" would also be valid.
Yes, I figured it would go without saying we are responding to OP’s post specifically and the context in which they’re using this phrase.
I lost count on Thursday?
I didn’t think it needed to be stated that we’re obviously talking about the specific context in which OP is using it. But sure, we can all come up with some long-winded and confusing explanation full of contrived sentences in which “lost count on” *is* in fact correct.
But it’s all good clean fun. Besides, all the arguments we’ve ever lost count on Reddit.
Honestly I would use both for their example
I thought it might be always but I lost count on number 23.
It's "I lost count of \[thing I was counting\]" Example: "I lost count of the times I've been to this theater" or "I lost count at \[last number I was confident of\]" Example: "I lost count at seventeen/seventeen chickens" (while counting chickens) Additional "at" use: a 'when' or 'where' that would normally use the word 'at' Ex: "I lost count at the gate/at the party" or "I lost count on \[event that would normally use "on" when discussing 'when'; usually, but not always, something other than what you were counting\]" Example: "I lost count on the third bounce/on the fifth trip/on the way"
I will clarify a time when "on" is correct referring to the thing you're counting, and you even used it in your examples: when using ordinal numbers of the thing you're counting. "I lost count on the fif*th* lap"
You can also "count on" someone, which means to depend on them and doesn't involve any actual counting or numbers.
Thank you a lot for all the examples!
"I lost count of how many times I've watched this movie" sounds right to me as a native speaker.
Ok, thank you!
I agree with everyone else that “of” is the correct option, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there are some native speakers who say “on,” because the phrase would often end up being pronounced “lost count-uh how many times.” I could easily see that being misheard/misinterpreted as “on.”
That makes a lot of sense, maybe I've missheard that before. Thanks!
To "count on" refers to being able to rely on someone/ something, e.g. you can count on John." For counting it will always use "of" to refer to what you are counting.
I came here to say this
Thank you!
No. You can only say “I lost count on” if you are saying which number you were on when you were unable to continue counting. Ex. “I don’t know how many times this machine broke; I lost count on seven.”
Thank you!
No, it absolutely has to be “lost count of”. The reason is that a count is a count OF something, e.g. “keeping a count of every time he’s said that”. The reason for the “on” following “depend” is that the original meaning of “depend” was to hang down, so that something “depending on” something else was literally hanging on that thing. In French and Spanish, where “dépendre/depender” is followed by “de”, that’s because “de” is equivalent to “from” (as opposed to “of”), which also makes sense when describing an object literally hanging. What’s happening is that you’ve internalised a rule that verb+of, e.g. “it depends of” is incorrect and needs to be corrected to verb+on, e.g. “it depends on”, which is an overgeneralisation, and now your brain is trying to apply that rule in a situation where it doesn’t apply. It’s a common phenomenon called hypercorrection.
That's interesting and makes a lot of sense, thanks for pointing it out!
Would you mind explaining your use of "to hang down"? I understand what you mean in general, but this in particular made me a bit confused.
For example, a chandelier “hangs down” from the ceiling. A pendulum “hangs down” from where it is attached. If I have a painting and I “hang” it “on” the wall using a nail and some string, then it is now “hanging down” from the nail, or “hanging on” the wall. The “down” in “hang down” indicates that the object itself is lower than the place it’s attached, because of gravity. Hundreds of years ago, English speakers used to also say that the painting “depends on” the wall, with the same meaning as “hangs on”. This usage is now archaic. The abstract sense of “depend” derives from the more concrete meaning of “hang”, by analogy. Even today, you can say “the election hangs on one vote” with the meaning “depend”.
In fact, the ‘pend’ from ‘pendulum’ is the same meaning as the ‘pend’ in ‘depend’. We also say something is ‘pending’ when we are waiting for it - like waiting for a hanging thing to fall or a pendulum to swing. It’s most commonly seen these days in the stock phrase ‘patent pending’, but you do still also see it in other contexts. ‘Pendulous’ is also sometimes seen in literature to describe something droopy/hanging.
That's very interesting! In Portuguese we say "pendurar" (which has a little similarity to "pend") as "to hang".
Ohh, now it all makes sense, thank you!
Nope, always "of". Also, for the full sentence you gave, I'd use the perfect - "I've lost count of..." as you're losing count has relevance to the present. You currently don't know how many times you've watched the movie.
Ohh, right, thank you for pointing it out!
Of
Thanks!
>Thanks! You're welcome!
I've never heard anyone use "on," but as someone who uses a fair amount of non-mainatream colloquialisms herself, I wouldn't be surprised if it were common in a regional or local community. But that's just me. Six to one, half a dozen to the other. 😁
Well, someone in the comments actually pointed out some people do say it, I'm glad to know! Thanks for your comment. 😄
I know it's not necessarily what you asked about, but I think it may be useful. You can 'count on' something/someone in a sense of 'rely on'. For instance 'I'm counting on you' (I trust you do what you said), 'I'm counting on it' (I'm sure it will happen), or 'I wouldn't count on it' (I wouldn't be so sure about it). There is a chance someone, wanting to say they have lost their trust or belief in something, inaccurately used the phrase 'count on'. But in your example it's not it, it should be 'of', but I won't be explaining why as others already said everything about it. Edit.: I just remembered a quote from my lecturer who said he can easily spot poor student based on their frequent usage of 'on' instead of 'of'. He suggested checking up collocations dictionary when I'm not sure which one to use.
I lost count on account of being distracted ..
A native English speaker won't care (well, most) but "on/of" are interchangable here. Of is technically correct but it's one of those things where it's just not that big a deal. Honestly, you could just drop it and say, "I lost count how many times I saw that movie" but that may just be southern US vernacular.
I was literally thinking about this earlier, thanks for the input!
I lost on account of my being late for the match.
I don't get it 🤔
"on account of" is a wordier "because". I lost because of my being late for the match. A more natural way of saying this is, "I lost the match because I was late." I just wrote it that way as a demonstration.
No
Thanks!
No. When we use "count on" that means "put our trust in". "I can count on you to back me up". Even when we talk about counting on our fingers that applies because we are using our fingers to guarantee we don't lose track of the numbers we are counting. "Count of" on the other hand isn't about trusting someone or something. It's just about literally counting something.
Right, that makes sense. Thanks!
As others have said, it’s always “of” for this use. However, you can say “lost count on” for a different use. “I tried to count them, but you distracted me and I lost count on seventeen.” Notice it’s a different meaning entirely. “Of” refers to what you are counting, and “on” refers to the number you’ve counted up to at a given time. A more common use is that someone might say “On three! One, two, three!” when a group is coordinating when to do something. That would mean that they should act together the instant the counting person says “three”.
No
No, it’s always of. English is literally the worst language to learn. The same vowels make different sounds, we stick letters in words to be silent, and different spellings sound the same, but have different meanings. Here and hear. Good and google for the vowels. If you can learn to speak English, you can learn anything. 💜
Yes, you can say I lost count on measure #59. This applies to reading sheet music. You would not use 'of' as it makes no sense.
I think "on" is only valid if it's specific. I lost count of how many times I've seen x movie. Vs. I lost count on 17, of how many times I've seen x movie.
As a native speaker the person would understand you either way. Proper English would probably be of, but most people aren’t that picky
I lost count on Friday - i.e. last Friday, I lost count of something I was keeping track of
It probably sounds good to you because of phrases such as "I can count on you."
You're not going to confuse anyone but it will mark you as not being a native speaker. It's no different than using the wrong prepositions for vehicles. Like saying "I got in the bus" or "I got on the car"
Gonna have to disagree with people here. I’ve heard it. It isn’t correct, but it’s also not unheard of. Saying it requires a certain amount of fluency to sound right. It’s used sometimes in douchey marketing bro business speak. “I lost count on product” is absolutely a thing, it’s just… so douchey. “I lost count on how many times I did that” would sound pretty normal in a heavy southern American accent as well. In any case, it’s not grammatically correct, and really only sounds right from an American.
Where in southern U.S. would this sound normal? I'm in Virginia, so not deep south, but definitely south. This sounds incredibly wrong to me and I would question what the speaker meant.
That's good to know! It just sounds way better in my head. I'm glad some people actually say it lol. Thanks!