help me improve my english...

PookyBoy

Senior member
Aug 18, 2001
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I want to know what is the difference between forget, forgot and forgotten. Can someone give me an example of when each one should be used?
 

PsychoAndy

Lifer
Dec 31, 2000
10,735
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I forget what the difference is. (present tense)
i forgot what the differnence is. (past tense)

I have forgotten what the difference is (past participle, i think)
 

Jzero

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
18,834
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Sure. This is basic English verb conjugation.
3 basic tenses--present, past, and past participle.
Here goes:
Forget - Present Tense. Happening now. Ex: "I forget where my brain is."
Forgot - Past Tense. Already Happened. Ex: "I forgot where my brain is."
Forgotten - Past Participle. Already happened, just a different way to say it. It carries more of a sense of "This happened in the past, but it continues now." You MUST use have/had in conjunction with it.
Ex1: "I have forgotten where my brain is." implies I forgot where my brain is and I still forget where it is. The example above is more vague.
Ex2: "I had forgotten where my brain is." Implies I forgot, but I remember now.

Hope that helps.
Hope it's right, too :)
 

b0mbrman

Lifer
Jun 1, 2001
29,470
1
81
Forget is the present for the first person singular, first person plural, second person singular, second person plural, and third person plural i.e. I forget, we forget, you forget, all you suckaz forget, they forget

Forgot is the universal past tense...I/we/you/you(plural)/he/they forgot

Forgotten is the past participle of forget use it as an adjective or with the proper form of have
 

geno

Lifer
Dec 26, 1999
25,074
4
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(right now) I forget how I got this tatto on my butt :p

(something in the past) I forgot how to open my door, but then I remembered to turn the key.

(past particible) I had forgotten how to open this thread.


Yeah, it's more of the same stuff, but more examples never hurt :)
 

Maggotry

Platinum Member
Dec 5, 2001
2,074
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<< I forget what the difference is. (present tense)
i forgot what the differnence is. (past tense)

I have forgotten what the difference is (past participle, i think)
>>


If you're speaking in the past tense, should you be using a present tense verb (is)?
 

Bignate603

Lifer
Sep 5, 2000
13,897
1
0
Yeah, tenses are the hardest part. I never got spanish tenses and those are somewhat standard, english doesn't have that, it's all memorization...
 

Jzero

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
18,834
1
0


<<

<< I forget what the difference is. (present tense)
i forgot what the differnence is. (past tense)

I have forgotten what the difference is (past participle, i think)
>>


If you're speaking in the past tense, should you be using a present tense verb (is)?
>>



You can...
Ex: "I have forgotten why I think you're funny."
Both "I think" and "You're funny" are present-tense.
 

Jzero

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
18,834
1
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<< Yeah, tenses are the hardest part. I never got spanish tenses and those are somewhat standard, english doesn't have that, it's all memorization... >>


It's all memorization in both languages....English has very few tenses and the basic words never change.
I forget.
I will forget.
I did forget.
It's more intuitive.

In spanish....well you have a verb....like hablar.
Then you have different verb endings for each of the 3 "persons" and also for plurals of each. As many as 6 forms of a single word.
And that's just one tense.
6 endings for each tense and there's quite a few tenses all with different meanings...some of the differences are pretty small, too.
On the flipside, since the tense, and "person" and often the direct object and indirect object can all be implied in the verb, it saves you a lot of pronouns :)
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
74,764
6,770
126
Active Tenses

Simple Present: I forget
Present Progressive: I am forgetting
Simple Past: I forgot
Past Progressive: We were forgetting
Future: I will (won't) forget
Present Perfect: I have forgotten for many years
Past Perfect; By the time I got here I had already forgotten
Future Perfect: By next week I will have forgotten
 

Lithium381

Lifer
May 12, 2001
12,452
2
0
English sucks! Heh, i geuss it's "easy" for me since it's my native language, but it's still a weird/lame language....no form really
 

QTPie

Golden Member
Dec 30, 2001
1,813
1
81
<<Don't really need English if your an engineer.>>

Oh, man, didn't you take a technical writing class at all?


If you would like to learn the best English, I suggest you watch a lot of Springer and MTV.

jerry, jerry, jerry!
 

fatalbert

Platinum Member
Aug 1, 2001
2,956
0
0


<<

<< Yeah, tenses are the hardest part. I never got spanish tenses and those are somewhat standard, english doesn't have that, it's all memorization... >>


It's all memorization in both languages....English has very few tenses and the basic words never change.
I forget.
I will forget.
I did forget.
It's more intuitive.

In spanish....well you have a verb....like hablar.
Then you have different verb endings for each of the 3 "persons" and also for plurals of each. As many as 6 forms of a single word.
And that's just one tense.
6 endings for each tense and there's quite a few tenses all with different meanings...some of the differences are pretty small, too.
On the flipside, since the tense, and "person" and often the direct object and indirect object can all be implied in the verb, it saves you a lot of pronouns :)
>>



just be glad it isn't Ancient Greek,

I currently know over 15 different sets of endings for every verb:confused:

its rediciculous, I have to know for a verb, tense, mood, person, number. If it is a participle, tense, case, number, gender, and recognize the fact it is a participle.

the list goes on and on
 

Pocatello

Diamond Member
Oct 11, 1999
9,754
2
76


<< If you would like to learn the best English, I suggest you watch a lot of Springer and MTV >>


Don't pay any attention to the devil :).
Watch Lou Dobbs Moneyline on CNN, my favorite show.
Or NewsHour With Jim Lehrer on PBS, the best source of news in America, IMO ;)
 

Amused

Elite Member
Apr 14, 2001
57,390
19,708
146
English, huh?

Here's a word I learned in the south: Usetacould

As used in a sentence commonly heard uttered by old Southern men:

"I can't get it up now, but boy howdy, I usetacould!"
 

Wolfsraider

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2002
8,305
0
76


<< English, huh?

Here's a word I learned in the south: Usetacould

As used in a sentence commonly heard uttered by old Southern men:

"I can't get it up now, but boy howdy, I usetacould!"
>>



here is another sensous since you is up get me a beer