"I forget" <--- isn't this incorrect?

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Makoto Taniguchi - 16 May 2004 04:55 GMT

I constantly hear people saying "I forget" instead of "I forgot" and
they claim that "I forget" is present tense and therefore correct but
I have never ever heard the term "I forget" being used by an English
teacher.

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Einde O'Callaghan - 16 May 2004 07:16 GMT

> I constantly hear people saying "I forget" instead of "I forgot" and
> they claim that "I forget" is present tense and therefore correct but
> I have never ever heard the term "I forget" being used by an English
> teacher.

"I forget" is used quite often by native speakers with the meaning "I
can't remember now". "I forgot" means that that at some time in the past
"I didn't remember", but it doesn't say anything about the present.

Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

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John Hall - 16 May 2004 09:03 GMT

>I constantly hear people saying "I forget" instead of "I forgot" and
>they claim that "I forget" is present tense and therefore correct but
>I have never ever heard the term "I forget" being used by an English
>teacher.

"I forget" is an idiom that is in common use. It means something
different from "I forgot".

"Did you do that?"

1. "I forgot." I forgot to do it.
2. "I forget." I can't remember whether I did it or not.

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John Hall
"I look upon it, that he who does not mind his belly,
will hardly mind anything else."
Dr Samuel Johnson (1709-84)

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FB - 16 May 2004 13:05 GMT

> "Did you do that?"
>
> 1. "I forgot." I forgot to do it.
> 2. "I forget." I can't remember whether I did it or not.

Then:

"I forget" ==> "I can't remember"?

Bye, FB

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Mrs. Palmer, in her way, was equally angry. 'She was determined to drop his
acquaintance immediately, and she was very thankful that she had never been
acquainted with him at all'.

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John Hall - 16 May 2004 21:55 GMT

>> "Did you do that?"
>>
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
>"I forget" ==> "I can't remember"?

Yes.

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John Hall

"The covers of this book are too far apart."
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)

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Discussion Groups / British English / May 2004

"I forget" <--- isn't this incorrect?