What does forgot mean?
"Forgot" is the past tense of the verb "to forget," meaning to fail to remember or to unintentionally neglect something. It covers two closely related situations: losing hold of information — a name, a date, where you parked — and failing to carry out an intention, such as bringing your keys or attending an appointment. Because forgetting is understood as involuntary, "I forgot" works as a natural apology, and the word carries little stigma compared with words implying deliberate disregard. It is common in fixed expressions such as "I forgot all about it" and "I almost forgot." As one of the few remaining irregular verbs whose past tense ends in -ot, it preserves a pattern from Old English that has largely vanished elsewhere in the language. Its companion forms — "forget," "forgotten," and "forgetting" — complete one of English's more intricate inflectional families.
verb"Forgot" is the past tense of the verb "forget," meaning to fail to remember or to unintentionally neglect something. It can also describe failing to bring or do something through lack of memory.
- To fail to remember information, an event, a person, or a detail.
- To unintentionally fail to do, bring, or attend to something.
"She forgot her umbrella on the train this morning."
"He forgot the name of the hotel where they'd stayed ten years earlier."
"Sorry I'm late — I completely forgot about the meeting."
"Forgot" is one of the rare irregular English verbs whose past tense ends in -ot — a survival of Old English strong-verb patterns that most verbs shed centuries ago.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of forgot
"Forgot" derives from the Old English verb forgietan, composed of the prefix for- and gietan, meaning to grasp or be unaware of — hence to lose hold of something mentally. As a strong verb, it formed its past tense by changing its stem vowel, giving Old English forgeat, which developed into the modern "forgot." The related past participle "forgotten" reflects the same Old English root. Cognate forms appear across Germanic languages, notably German vergessen, from ver- plus the same Germanic root.
Related word forms
How forgot is actually used
"Forgot" is the simple past tense of "forget" and is standard in both everyday and formal usage; in American English it is also sometimes heard in place of the past participle (e.g. "I've forgot"), though "forgotten" remains the conventional participle in careful writing. The verb carries a neutral connotation — forgetting is understood as involuntary — so saying "I forgot" functions naturally as an apology or excuse rather than an admission of intent.
Easily confused with forgot
"Forgot" is the simple past tense (active voice, e.g. "I forgot his name"), while "forgotten" is the past participle used in perfect tenses and passive constructions (e.g. "I had forgotten his name").
"Forgot" means failed to remember, whereas "forsook" means deliberately abandoned or renounced something — a choice rather than a lapse of memory.