Cocomango  +  130303 Wed, 24 Aug 05 03:25 PM When do you use "I forgot" and when do you use "I forget"? Cocomango Joined on Wed, Aug 24 2005 New Member 02

	Philip  +  130309 Wed, 24 Aug 05 03:53 PM  Cocomango wrote: When do you use "I forgot" and when do you use "I forget"? Technically:  I forgot to do something (yesterday).  I always forget to turn the lights off (generally, present included). Unfortunately, we often use the simple present when we mean the present perfect.  "What did you have for dessert last night?"  "I forget."  (Meaning I have forgotten.)  English, more than any other language I know of, freely interchanges tenses, which causes for much confusion for people trying to learn English.  I could go on for hours about this, but it doesn't directly deal with your question.  I hope I've helped. Philip Joined on Thu, Jun 23 2005 Veteran Member 8,738 At reise er at leve! - H. C. Andersen Simple Present, Tenses, Present Perfect, Learn English

	pieanne  +  131519 Sun, 28 Aug 05 06:05 PM You can also have a look at Post:82945   pieanne Joined on Thu, Jan 20 2005 South of France ...But I'm Belgian! Veteran Member 7,517 I'm glad to help, but I'm not a native! And please excuse my typos...

	julielai  +  131522 Sun, 28 Aug 05 06:22 PM Somehow the thread reminds me of this monologue from The Tempest: FERDINAND  There be some sports are painful, and their labour     Delight in them sets off: some kinds of baseness     Are nobly undergone and most poor matters     Point to rich ends. This my mean task     Would be as heavy to me as odious, but     The mistress which I serve quickens what's dead     And makes my labours pleasures: O, she is     Ten times more gentle than her father's crabbed,     And he's composed of harshness. I must remove     Some thousands of these logs and pile them up,     Upon a sore injunction: my sweet mistress     Weeps when she sees me work, and says, such baseness     Had never like executor. I forget:     But these sweet thoughts do even refresh my labours,   Most busy lest, when I do it. julielai Joined on Sun, Oct 24 2004 Senior Member 3,827 Just another blogger (http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/julie-lai)

	paco2004  +  131554 Sun, 28 Aug 05 08:02 PM Hello guys I have a question about 'forget' and I would like to ask it on this occasion. I've learned in school about 'forget' that we can say 'I forgot my umbrella' in the meaning of 'I inadvertently left my umbrella' but we cannot add a place adverbial to this phrase like 'I forgot my umbrella in the restaurant' in the meaning of 'I inadvertently left my umbrella in the restaurant'. According to our teacher's explanation, it is because 'I forgot my umbrella' is an elided form of 'I forgot to bring my umbrella' and we cannot say 'I forgot to bring my umbrella in the restaurant'. However, recently I found on a dictionary online an article about 'forget' like below. forget verb 1: dismiss from the mind; stop remembering; 'I tried to bury these unpleasant memories'  [synonym: bury] [antonym: remember] 2: be unable to remember; 'I'm drawing a blank'; 'You are blocking the name of your first wife!' [synonyms: block, blank out, draw a blank] [antonym: remember] 3: forget to do something; 'Don't forget to call the chairman of the board to the meeting!' [antonym: mind] 4: leave behind unintentionally; 'I forgot my umbrella in the restaurant'; 'I left my keys inside the car and locked the doors' [synonym: leave] Source: WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University So my question is whether 'I forgot my umbrella in the restaurant' really sounds odd to you native speakers. I have a feeling that it might be different between British people and Americans. Thank you in advance. paco paco2004 Joined on Wed, Nov 17 2004 Senior Member 4,095 In Japan today even dogs are learning how to bow-wow in English. Articles, Verbs, Universities, Synonyms, Antonyms, British People

	CalifJim  +  131562 Sun, 28 Aug 05 08:49 PM "I forgot my umbrella in the restaurant" does not sound odd at all, but it is not a paraphrase of "I forgot to bring my umbrella [in / to / into] the restaurant".  It is paraphrase of "I forgot to take my umbrella from the restaurant" or "I (unintentionally) left my umbrella in the restaurant". CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,415 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

	paco2004  +  131573 Sun, 28 Aug 05 09:19 PM Hello CJ Thank you for the quick reply. The distinction between 'bring' and 'take' is really messy to us Japanese (who use the same verb for the both). Anyway it is interesting you use 'forget to take something' instead of 'forget to bring something' even in the case you are speaking in a place to which you have to bring the thing. By the way, I re-read 'Longman Dictionary of Common Errors', and there I found an article that says "If you forget to take something with you, you leave it somewhere. Do not use 'forget' if you mention a place. (EX) If the keys aren't in your jacket, you must have left them in the restaurant." I'm wondering whether there is some difference about the usage of 'forget' between BrE and AmE. I'd like to hear opinions from British people. paco paco2004 Articles, Verbs, Common Errors, British People

	CalifJim  +  131642 Mon, 29 Aug 05 04:11 AM The advice not to use "forget" if you mention a place is good advice. It's just that many people ignore that advice in real, everyday situations! For that reason, i.e., the widespread use of "forget" with a place, it does not sound odd at all to me. CJ CalifJim