I ‘m so confused on the usage of “forget and forgot”.

Question

Dear Teacher.I’m Chinese.  I know forgot is the past tense of forget. The following are some questions? Please help me answer them.I have no question on “I had a date yesterday, but I forgot (it).”Q: What is your mom’s cell number? A: I forgot/forget it.Q: I know it, but now I forgot/forget it.Q: I know it, but I forgot/forget it.Q I knew it, but now I forgot/forget it.Q I knew it, but I forgot/forget it.Q: I know it, buy I will forget it.   Tell me if this sentence is right when it add the word “will”?  On Google I check,  no matter “ I know it, but now I forgot it” or “ I know it, but now I forget it” or “ I knew it, but now I forgot it ” or“ I knew it, but now I forget” it, those seem to be used by many people. I so confused which sentences are right, and why?  Thanks so much ahead of time. Jacky Lin. February 18th 2011.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Hi Jacky:
Here are some explanations:

Q1: What is your mom’s cell number? A: I forgot/forget it.
Both are OK.
I forgot it - means that you knew it in the past and forgot it in the past. You don't know it now, and have to look it up.
I forget it - means that sometimes I remember it, and sometimes not. Right now, I can't remember, but if you give me a few minutes to think about it, I might remember it and tell you what it is. (Often you will hear: I keep forgetting it).

Q2: I know it, but now I forgot/forget it.
Forget (see Q1)

Q3: I know it, but I forgot/forget it.
Forget (see Q1)

Q4: I knew it, but now I forgot/forget it.
See Q1

Q5) I knew it, but I forgot/forget it.
See Q1

Q6: I know it, but I will forget it. Tell me if this sentence is right when it add the word “will”?
Yes. I know that I will forget some passwords!

Jacky56Lin · Answer

Dear Teacher Thanks for your answers. I feel great now.

May I ask you another question about “I got it." or “I get it?”

Often time I heard that the following:

Q1 “Do you know what I mean/say " A: I got it." B: “I get it".

Which answer is right? Maybe both are right. Why?

Just I would like to ask if they have similar usage with forget/forgot.

If Q1 is change the word “mean/say” into meant/said, complete sentence is “Do you know what I mean/said”

I marked it as Q2.

Q2: “Do you know what I meant/said” " A: I got it." B: “I get it".

Which answer is right? Why?

Q3: And I wonder what on earth the difference if I use mean and meant or use say or said in the clause.

I usually hesitate which tense I should use when I’m making a or saying a sentence in the clause,

Off course I know that meant and said are the past tense of mean and say.

Thanks millions.

Jacky Lin. February 18^th 2011.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Jacky56LinMay I ask you another question about “I got it." or “I get it?”
Often time I heard that the following:
Q1 “Do you know what I mean/say " A: I got it." B: “I get it".
Which answer is right? Maybe both are right. Why?
Just I would like to ask if they have similar usage with forget/forgot.

Which answer is right? Maybe both are right. Yes, both are right.

Just I would like to ask if they have similar usage with forget/forgot.

Similar, but there is not such a strong distinction:

I got it - Someone asks me to do a small job, and explains to me what needs to be done. I answer: I got it. That means that I understand, and I agree to do it, and I will do it right away.

I get it. Someone tells my friends and me a joke, but I don't think it is funny, so I don't laugh. But everyone else is laughing so hard that they are crying.
One of my friends explains the joke, and then I see how funny it is. I say, "Oh! I get it!"

Jacky56Lin · Answer

Dear AlpheccaStars    thanks a lot for your clear explanation.

I ‘m so confused on the usage of “forget and forgot”.

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