I merely "Vote" for "EITHER" at this junction. Why? because after i analyse the sense of using "forgot and left" i came up to my conclusion that, using forgot in this regard as "I forgot my homework at home" means, the action happened "Accidentally". . . . . .On the otherhand, using "LEFT" as "I left my homework at home" implies, the action occured with "Intention"
Based on my analysis, the words "forgot" and "Left" as we're trying to explain and used in the given sentences are both acceptable but it varries from the meaning or the thoughts that one might want to convey.
when someone says, "I forgot my homework at home" means, "ACCIDENTALLY"
WHILE, saying "I left my homework at home" sounds like, there's an "INTENTION" why it happend.
Based on my analysis, the words "forgot" and "Left" as we're trying to explain and used in the given sentences are both acceptable but it varries from the meaning or the thoughts that one might want to convey.
when someone says, "I forgot my homework at home" means, "ACCIDENTALLY"
WHILE, saying "I left my homework at home" sounds like, there's an "INTENTION" why it happend.
I think the beginners will be at a loss in such situations when they see that even native speakers are not sure how to use these two words.
I think people can both leave and forget something somewhere. I myself prefer to say: I have left my homework at home.( It means that I forgot to take it with me.)
I chose "left" because "forget" seems rather a cognitive verb which does not imply places.
I forget/forgot to do smth.
I forgot to do my homework and left my notebook at home, as well.
This is one of the riddles difficult to solve. I agree with those who say another verb after forget is expected or missing. Maybe everything lies in the nature of the two verbs. If I may take it a different direction I would say forget is mostly used as a stative verb (cognitive) rather than dynamically. But I know you can use it dynamically ie when more intention or effort is involved: She is forgetting her boyfriend. So there can be no intention in forget used as a stative verb. Maybe that's why "I forget it at home" is frowned on? Forget cannot simply be substituted by do. Leave by contrast is a pure dynamic verb and is closely related to place as already mentioned ie spatial. But I am speculating and still a more statisfactory explanation than given so far is needed. Forget the world and leave it behind you.
Last edited by Dr. Jamshid Ibrahim; 26-Jun-2007 at 05:46.
It is my interpretation that "I left my homework at home" is neutral and does not necessarily imply intention. Perhaps I meant to do so and perhaps I did not.
It is my interpretation that "I left my homework at home" is neutral and does not necessarily imply intention. Perhaps I meant to do so and perhaps I did not.
~R
I do agree there is no intention in I left my homework at home but I think what
teia_petrescu said is quite interesting. Forget is indeed a cognitive verb and does't imply place. It is another way of saying I don't remember. The problem is in maybe most other languages it is forget and not leave which is used for places. The English forget seems to be different and more restricted in meaning and function. You can say I forgot to bring it but I left it at home.
Last edited by Dr. Jamshid Ibrahim; 07-Jul-2007 at 09:41.
Re: Forgot\Left 
Linear Mode
