Correct British use of "forgot/forgotten"?

[Caitilin]

Can any British English speakers explain to me when you say "forgot" and when, if ever, you say " forgotten"? :D I am listening to a story written by an American but whose characters are British; I am curious about the author's usage of forgot. Thanks!

[Grover]

Does kiwi english count?

 

I have forgotten my bag.

I forgot to bring my bag.

It was so long a go I had forgotten I forgot my bag when we were camping.

 

Did you know if you type the word forgot enough it starts to look wrong?

[Arcadia]

Forget -present tense

Forgot - past tense

Forgotten - past participle

 

That was how I was taught in school :001_smile:

 

ETA: my school followed British English.

Edited October 26, 2012 by Arcadia

[Caitilin]

So, does one say "I had forgotten that fact," or "I had forgot that fact"? :D

[Liz CA]

I had forgotten that fact.

[TravelingChris]

I had forgotten that fact.

[regentrude]

So, does one say "I had forgotten that fact," or "I had forgot that fact"? :D

 

"I had forgotten."

 

But I am pretty sure the same rule applies to correct American English.

"I done forgot" is slang.

[bolt.]

Forgotten has a helper verb. Forgot stands alone.

 

Forgotten is passive: "I was forgotten." vs. "I forgot." is active.

 

Forgotten sounds right in 'story telling' -- "It was a dark and stormy night, and I had forgotten my umbrella..." Forgot is more factual, more present-to-now -- "Why is your hair wet." / "I forgot my umbrella."

[Photo Ninja]

I forget how to _____.

Last week I forgot how to ______.

I had forgotten how to _________.

[Farrar]

So, does one say "I had forgotten that fact," or "I had forgot that fact"? :D

 

Obviously, as everyone is saying, the former is correct. But I feel like I've heard and read it as the latter in some English accents. But I assume it's colloquial bad grammar?

[Caitilin]

Obviously, as everyone is saying, the former is correct. But I feel like I've heard and read it as the latter in some English accents. But I assume it's colloquial bad grammar?

 

Right, that's what I was wondering about. I know how to use this phrase correctly in American English; it's the British usage that interests me. It seems to me that I had read/heard that the British say "forgot" in cases where Americans would say "forgotten"--that's what I was trying to verify. :001_smile:

[Laura Corin]

'Forgot' is the simple past:

 

I forgot to set my alarm

 

'Forgotten' is the past particple, used with a 'helper' verb

 

This is the third day when I have forgotten to set my alarm.

 

Dialect sometimes confuses the two, however.

 

Laura

[Greenmama2]

He forgot

He has forgotten

He did forget

:)