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Park sang joon Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

How can I not remember you?

Jasmine: Let's say you are an actor.
Chris: I am an actor.
Jasmine: OK, then can you name a movie you were in?
Chris: Sure. The Lord of the Lings, all three of the series.
Jasmine: Really? How can I not remember you? I saw them like three or four times.
Chris: You wouldn't remember me if you watched them a hundred times. I was one of the Orcs.

I'd like to know if I can rephrase the underlined sentence as the following:
"How can't I remember you?"
  

Top answer

To ‘not remember’ is to forget. Jasmine is asking how (under what circumstances) can she not remember because he would be hard to forget. How is it that I can’t remember you?

— Wilpeter

  • To ‘not remember’ is to forget.
  • Jasmine is asking how (under what circumstances) can she not remember because he would be hard to forget.
  • How is it that I can’t remember you?
  • This would mean she really can’t remember him but doesn’t understand why (what reason).
  • No, can't doesn't work here.
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2 Answers
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To ‘not remember’ is to forget. Jasmine is asking how (under what circumstances) can she not remember because he would be hard to forget.
How is it that I can’t remember you? This would mean she really can’t remember him but doesn’t understand why (what reason).
No, can't doesn't work here.
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park sang joonHow can I not remember you?
I'd like to know if I can rephrase the underlined sentence as the following:"How can't I remember you?"
No, but you can rephrase it like this: How can it be that I do not remember you? / How it is possible that I do not remember you?

CJ
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