English Grammar - REMEMBER & FORGET - gerunds & infinitives

Hi, my name is Emma, and in today's lesson we are going to look at a common confusing

mistake students make. So we're looking at the words "Remember to do something", "Remember

doing something" -- so those ones are commonly confused, and "Forget to do something" versus

"Forget doing something". Okay? So we're looking at gerunds versus infinitives of "Forget"

and "Remember". So to start with, we're going to look at "Remember".

I have here the formula for "remember" in the infinitive. "Remember to and verb". So

we have the first verb, this is -- we use this when we have two verbs, our first verb

is "remember", "I remember". Our second verb is "to _____" and you can put any second verb

there. "I remember.", "I remembered to buy milk.", "I remembered to go see the movie."

Okay? Now this is contrasted with: "Remember verbing". So this is the gerund form. We have

our first verb, "remember" and our second verb which ends in "-ing". So these are the

two things we're going to be looking at today. So what does "Remember to verb" mean? So let

me give you an example. "Remember to visit the Eiffel Tower." Okay? What, what does this

mean exactly? Well, it means... Well, first of all this is a form of advice. If you tell

someone: "Remember to do something", you're giving them advice or you're telling them

they have to do something. Now, anytime we look at "Remember to verb", a useful thing

to do is ask this question: "What do I need to do?" Okay? So the first thing is: remember

what you need to do. The second step is: do it. So what do I need

to do? I need to remember to visit the Eiffel Tower. So the first step is: "Okay, I can't

remember. I'm in France, what, what am I supposed to be doing? Ah yes, I remember, I need to

visit the Eiffel Tower." Second step: do it, so I visit the Eiffel Tower. Okay?

Our second sentence: "I remembered to buy the milk." So again, we have our first verb

here "remembered", we have "to", "buy the milk". So what does this sentence mean? Well,

the first thing I should do is I should ask myself: "What do I need to do? What am I supposed

to be remembering? Ah yes. What do I need to do? I remember: buy the milk." So the first

thing I do is I need to remember to buy the milk, the second thing I need to do is actually

buy the milk. So it's two steps. Okay, so now let's check out "Remember verbing".

Okay? So again, first verb: "remember", second "verbing". So our first sentence: "I remember

visiting the Eiffel Tower." Now it's very similar to: "Remember to visit the Eiffel

Tower." What's the difference? Or I can even say here: "I remembered to visit the Eiffel

Tower." What is the difference between these two sentences? Well, when we have "-ing" at

the end of the second verb, what you're saying is that first you visited the Eiffel Tower,

that was your first step and then after you visited it, you remembered visiting it. So

you, in your mind, you see the Eiffel Tower, you can smell the smells around it, you can

remember what you felt, what you heard. So it's really about your senses; what you see

in your mind. That's this one. So let's look at the second one: "I remembered

buying the milk." So again, this is a memory. The first thing you did was you bought the

milk, and now you're remembering that moment in your head. It must have been something

important if you have some sort of memory with buying the milk, maybe something funny

happened when you bought the milk, or maybe you met your future wife or husband while

you bought the milk. But you can see it in your mind, you can remember that moment with

your senses; so hearing, smell, taste, maybe a touch. So this is really about your senses

and seeing something in your mind, whereas this, you don't get that feeling. What it's

saying is you're remembering what you need to do. Okay? Your parents might say: "Remember

to do your homework.", "Remember to feed the cat.", "Oh I remember, I remembered to feed

the cat." So this means: what do I need to do? First step. Second step: do it. Whereas

here, it's the opposite; you do something and then you remember how you felt when you

did it, you see the scene in your mind. Okay, so now let's look at "Forget to do something"

versus "Forget doing something". Okay, so we have "Forget to verb" and "Forget verbing".

So this is what we would call the infinitive. We have the first verb which is "forget",

the second verb, and we have the preposition "to" between them. Whereas in the case of

the gerund, we have "forget" which is our first verb, so "V1", we have our second verb,

there's no "to", it's just "ing". So just like what we said with the "remember".

So what is the difference between "Forget to verb" and "Forget verbing"? Well, let me

give you an example. "I forgot to eat the cake." So what does this mean? You'll notice

the angry face, it means: "I wanted cake." The first step: I forgot. I forgot there was

cake which means I didn't eat any cake. So you forget is the first action, the second

thing is there is no action after that because you forgot to do the action. Okay?

Our second example: "Insook forgot to water the plants. Now they're dead." So again, we

have another sad face because somebody forgot to do something. The plants were thirsty,

but there was no water. Okay? So again, first thing is forget, second part nothing happens

because you couldn't remember to do what you needed to do. Okay?

Now compare that to: "Forget verbing". "I forgot eating the cake." So notice "forgot",

"eating". This actually, I'm happy, I did eat the cake.

I don't remember if it tasted good or not, I don't remember like when I

ate it. Maybe in the middle of the night, I slept walk where I walked around, I was

still asleep, maybe I ate it then and so I don't remember. Maybe somebody was really

tired, they came home from work, they were so sleepy, they ate the cake, they couldn't

remember doing it. But at the same time, they know they ate the cake so they're probably

happy. Our second example: "Insook forgot watering

the plants." This means they're still alive. So she did water the plants, it's just she

forgot that she watered the plants. Okay? So we have a smiley face here. So in this

case, "forget verbing", the first action: you do something. Okay? You water the plants,

you go to the park, you visit the Eiffel Tower. The second part is you forget doing it though.

So this isn't always something happy, maybe you got married and you forgot. "I forgot

getting married." You went to Las Vegas, you partied too hard, you forgot getting married

and now you're in trouble. So it's not always a happy face like I've

shown here, but I think that forgetting what you did is usually a happier thing than these

examples where when you forget to do something, something bad happens usually as a result.

"I forgot to study for my exam." What's the consequence? "I failed my exam." Now if, on

the other hand, I forgot studying for my exam. I did study, maybe I did really well on the

exam and I don't remember all that stress, you know, the long hours at the library. So,

you know, this isn't too bad. So now let's do a quiz to look at "remember

to" - or sorry -, "remember" in the infinitive, "forget" in the infinitive, and the gerunds

of these verb forms. Okay, so let's do this together.

The first sentence: "I remember _______ Aya at the party. She

was talking to Sol." So I want to use the verb "see". Do you think

it's: "I remember seeing" - with an "-ing" -, "Aya at the party" or do you think "I remember

to see Aya at the party"? Which one do you think it is?

If you said: "I remember seeing"

- with "-ing" -, you are correct. Okay? So this has to do with a memory. I... Remember

your senses. In your mind or in my mind, I can picture Aya; I remember what she was doing.

"I remember seeing Aya at the party." Okay question number two:

"Remember _______ your grandma tomorrow. It's her birthday."

So do you think this is: "Remember to call your grandma tomorrow. It's her birthday"

or "Remember calling your grandma tomorrow. It's her birthday"? What do you think? Well,

if you said: "Remember to call your grandma tomorrow", you're correct. So again, you need

the "to". And what does this mean? It means the first thing you have to do is tomorrow,

first thing you need to think is you need to remember to call. Okay? So remember is

the first step, second step is to call. Number three:

"Don't forget _______! You will need it for skiing." So the verb is "to pack" or "packing".

"Don't forget to pack!" To pack what? Your sweater. Sorry, I didn't complete this sentence.

So we'll just say: "Don't forget _______ pack your sweater! You will need it for skiing."

Do you think it's: "Don't forget to pack your sweater" or "Don't forget packing your sweater"?

If you said: "Don't forget to pack your sweater", you are correct.

Finally, number four: "Adanna will never forget _______ Jaws. She's

been afraid to swim ever since." Poor Adanna. So "Adanna will never forget watching Jaws"

or "to watch Jaws"? What do you think it is? If you said: "Adanna will never forget

watching Jaws. She's been afraid to swim ever

since", you're correct. So she'll never forget the memory, how she felt, you know, how, think

about senses. So that's what we're talking about here. Okay?

I want to invite you to come visit our website at www.engvid.com. Here you will find a quiz

where you can really practice the differences between all of the words we learned today.

So until next time, take care.