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Learn how to say "to forget" in Spanish
In Spanish there are different ways to express "to forget". The verb olvidar can be used as well as its reflexive form, olvidarse.
Let's see some examples:
As you can see, in the first example we use "olvidar [algo]" and in the second example we use "olvidarse" [de algo]".
There is no difference in meaning. Using one or the other depends on what the person is used to; some regions in Spain use one form more than the other, but both are correct.
It is important to remember that when using the reflexive form olvidarse, that it needs the preposition "de" before the direct object. It would be incorrect to omit it: "Me he olvidado las llaves."
With the verb olvidar, we can express that we
- forget something
- forget to do something
- forget about doing something
For example:
The accidental "se" with olvidarse
Another way of using the verb olvidar is with the "accidental se". Have a look:
If we analyse the structure of this sentence you can see that the subject is "what is forgotten", in this case, the keys.
The verb is conjugated in the third person plural "han olvidado" to agree with the subject which is "the keys = las llaves".
There is an indirect pronoun "me" to say who forgot the keys. It is as if we were saying "The keys were forgotten to me.".
If we mention the person, we need to add "a +person", the same way we do with the verb gustar. For example:
Important: here we cannot use preposition de.
"Se me han olvidado de las llaves."
This structure is called "accidental se", and it is used to emphasise that something was "passively/accidentally/unintentionally done". Although the verb olvidar already implies an "unintentional action", this structure highlights that lack of intention more.
Be careful when what is expressed is "someone forgets to do something". In this case, the verb will always be conjugated in the 3rd person singular, not plural, independently of what comes after. The infinitive is taken as the subject of the sentence and it will be considered as a singular subject.
For example:
In the second example there is the plural word "cervezas" but the verb "olvidarse" is still conjugated in the 3rd person singular, not plural, to agree with the infinitive.
Remember that the order in this structure is:
se + indirect object pronoun + verb + object
See also Conjugate recordar, acordar and acordarse (o > ue) stem-changing -ar verbs in the present tense (El Presente) and Using the "accidental" reflexive (se) with an indirect object pronoun
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