Modern Spanish Grammar: A Practical Guide

(lily) #1
¿No recuerdas que fue Luis quien te lo dijo?
Don’t you remember that it was Luis who told you?

Note that unlike negative statements with recordar (e.g. No recuerdo que... , ‘I don’t
remember that.. .’), negative questions do not require the use of the subjunctive in the
subordinate clause.

 18.1.5 (p. 85)


45.3 Saying that one has forgotten something or someone


45.3.1 Olvidarse, olvidar


To say that one has forgotten something, in the sense of leaving something behind,
use olvidarse or olvidar, ‘to forget’. Olvidarse, which emphasizes the idea that the
forgetting was accidental, must agree in number with the thing forgotten, and is in
effect a passive reflexive.

 24.3 (p. 113)


Se me olvidó el paraguas or Olvidé el paraguas.
I forgot my umbrella.

Se nos olvidaron los documentos or Olvidamos los documentos.
We forgot the documents.

45.3.2 Dejarse, dejar, ‘to leave’, ‘to forget’


In Spain, you will also hear dejarse or dejar with the meaning of leaving something
behind accidentally.

Me he dejado/he dejado el carné en casa.
I’ve left my identity card at home.

45.3.3 Olvidar, olvidarse de


To say that one has forgotten someone or a fact, or has forgotten to do something, use
olvidar or olvidarse de, ‘to forget’.

Lo he olvidado or Me he olvidado de él.
I have forgotten him.

Ya he olvidado/me he olvidado de todo lo que ocurrió.
I have already forgotten everything that happened.

Olvidaste/te olvidaste de apagar la luz.
You forgot to turn off the light.

The difference between olvidar and olvidarse de is that the first implies intentional
forgetting, while the second denotes unintentional forgetting.

Note also the use of these verbs in the imperative:

REMEMBERING AND FORGETTING 45.3

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