Forgetful, are we?

Question

Is saying 'I forget' when 'I forgot" is proper to use now somehow acceptable? Who else finds this an annoyingly persistent mistake? I make grmmatical mistakes, many people do, but shouldn't I forget as a response to a question like "did you do what I asked you to?", for example, have become rare? If you're asked if you did something, and you didn't remember to do it, assuming you intended to, you're supposed to say, 'I forgot to,' not, 'I forget to.' Forget is present and future tense and only says what you tend to do, not what you did in regard to the specific question.

What's so damn hard about that?

Such as missing the letter a in 'grammatical. Among other mistakes.

The first a. Oh well. It's still less annoying than saying 'I forget.'

Answer 1

Language is a fluid thing. I like to be correct in the written word and I am very particular about how I personally use language - spoken. If someone replies: "I'm doing good" to my question "How are you?" I ask them if they are enjoying helping little old ladies across streets!

Americans use language rather differently from (not than) Brits. But I am able to understand, most of the time. Not Black English mind you. That is another matter.

Keep being a stickler. It will endear you to some, and make you into a pedant in others' eyes. I prefer to be known as a pedant. I forget why. . .(or is it 'I've forgotten why?')