手把手教你学口语28

Welcome to Daily Tips on Learning¹ English. Today’s tip is on the difference in meaning between “forget doing something” and “forget to do something”.

Let’s take an example. What’s the difference between “I will never forget to lock the door” and “I will never forget locking the door”? Well, “I will never forget to lock the door” is a promose to lock the door in the future. You are saying that every time you leave your home in the future, you will remember to lock the door. On the other hand, “I will never forget locking the door” means² that you locked the door one time in the past. And that for some reason, the memory of locking the door that time will never be forgotten. Maybe you locked yourself into your house and couldn’t get out for a week.

So, if you are reminding someone to do something in the future, say, “Don’t forget to bring your keys.” “Don’t forget to come early tomorrow.” Or “Don’t forget to turn off the TV.” On the other hand, if you are telling someome about a memory of doing something in the past that you will always remember, you say, “I will never forget seeing the Statue of Liberty³ for the first time” or “I will never forget getting lost in Tokyo.” “forget doing something” is always used in the negative “I can’t forget” “I won’t forget” “I will never forget”. So the meaning is the same as remember doing something.

Pay special care when using the word “forget”. You must choose the right form of the verb⁴ you use after it. This has been today’s daily tip. Tune⁵ in tomorrow for another tip.

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

3 liberty   

n.自由，自由权；冒昧行为

参考例句：

• He stood for the cause of liberty and justice.他为自由和正义的事业而奋斗。
• You are at liberty to do as you please.你可以随意行事。

4 verb   

n.[语]动词

参考例句：

• The sentence is formed from a verb and two nouns.这句子由一个动词和两个名词构成。
• These are the finite forms of a verb.这些是一个动词的限定形式。

5 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。