Forgot or Forgotten

Question

Would someone be so kind as to enlighten me as to which form is generally preferred: "I have forgot" or "I have forgotten"? I was under the impression that "forgotten" was the Americanized version of the word and that "forgot" was the original form. Am I wrong to think that?

Tanit · Accepted Answer

Hi,

forgot >> simple past
forgotten >> past participle

also in British English (this is ahttp://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=30547&dict=CALD)

So:

I forgot.
I have forgotten.

NanakiXIII · Answer

I'm well aware that forgot is the simple past form, but I'm quite positive that it is also used as a past participle.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=forgot

Tanit · Answer

I'm quite sure somebody else will have an answer. <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Goodman · Answer

I have forgot /forgotten are both correct. The latter is more formally used.

I forgot to do the laundry last night. - forgot is used as simple past, ok

I may have /forgot forgotten a lot of Chinese in written form, but when I see them I still recognize their meanings. Both forgot and Forgotten can be used as past participle.

NanakiXIII · Answer

Thanks, Goodman. But I was wrong, then, in my assumption that "forgotten" is an Americanization or at least a newer form?

Goodman · Answer

Glad to be of any help!<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

MrPedantic · Answer

In standard BrE, it would be "I have forgotten" (not "I have forgot").

However, "forgot" is used as the past participle in some literary contexts (e.g. 19th century poems).

Best wishes,

MrP

Yankee · Answer

NanakiXIIIThanks, Goodman. But I was wrong, then, in my assumption that "forgotten" is an Americanization or at least a newer form?

I know 'forgot' as the simple past tense and not as the past participle of 'forget'. According to the Oxford Dictionary, 'forgot' is sometimes used as the past participle "chiefly in the US". Webster's Dictionary also lists 'forgot' as an alternative for 'forgotten'. However, if that is actually true, then the usage must be fairly regional or they are simply referring to relatively limited informal or poetic usage. To me, 'forget' has only one correct past participle and that is 'forgotten'. Using 'forgot' as the past participle' sounds (at best) informal to me.

A well-known usage of 'forgot' as a past participle that comes to mind is in the 18th century song Auld Lang Syne, but that was not written by an American.

My BNC search for "have forgot" resulted in only one hit:
"I must have forgot."
Likewise, a BNC search for "has forgot" also resulted in only one hit:
"Our Michael's forgot where he, has forgot where he's hid his Nintendo tape."

By way of comparison, BNC searches for "have forgotten" and "has forgotten" result in http://sara.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/saraWeb?qy=have+forgotten and http://sara.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/saraWeb?qy=has+forgotten hits respectively.

A search of the New York Times resulted in only 4 hits for "has forgot", and 13 hits for "have forgot".
By way of comparison, a search of the NY Times for "has forgotten" results in 749 hits, and there are 2099 hits for "have forgotten".

So, the usage of forgotten as the past participle seems to be pretty standard on both sides of the pond.

If you look at the etymology of the word forget, it would seem logical that the -en ending is nothing new.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=forget

I've read that the use of 'gotten' as the past participle of 'get' is in fact an older usage that has been preserved in AmE, and that the British use of 'got' as a past participle is in fact a newer usage.

EDIT:
Hi Mr. P.

You posted while I was busily doing all of my online searches. I really don't think 'forgot' is typically viewed (or even used) as a "correct" past participle in AmE. You do hear it used that way informally -- but to me even the informal usage is relatively rare. That's my gut feeling.

Goodman · Answer

Results 1 - 10 of about 286,000 for "http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&oi=dict&q=http://www.answers.com/have%26r%3D67&usg=AFQjCNGFLLHxL3Yzd7JC8mUz6d0Y9FUZsQ http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&oi=dict&q=http://www.answers.com/forgot%26r%3D67&usg=AFQjCNFe6aSnbwJEWZFHZaik6pOYwf1VmQ". (0.26 se

Results 1 - 10 of about 1,960,000 for " http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&oi=dict&q=http://www.answers.com/forgotten%26r%3D67&usg=AFQjCNFaFZXwN44pj1uiK_1kSKKTpH6LCw". (0.14 seconds

I hope I did this correctly. Whether “forgot” marginally acceptable as past participle or otherwise, “have forgot” is heard and used more than we are willing to admit. Please don’t jump me for saying this. We can talk about the literal usage and meaning based on authoritative references, but the reality is many natives do use “forgot” as a past participles. The search result proves that “have forgotten” is the true form, there is no question. How correct is “forgot” is beyond my knowledge.

MrPedantic · Answer

The googles are very odd. If you go to page 73 for "I have forgot" (i.e. the first 723 results), you find it ends:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22have+forgot%22&hl=en&start=900&sa=N

which suggests that the other 285,000 or so hits are duplications. Cf. for instance (if you take off the filter):

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22have+forgot%22&hl=en&start=980&sa=N&filter=0

Something similar happens with "I have forgotten", after 800 or so hits.

MrP

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