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"Forget" = to fail to remember; "miss" = to long for something or to fail to catch/attend something.
Side-by-side comparison
To fail to remember something, or to fail to do something through carelessness.
I forgot my phone at home. I have to go back.
Don't forget to lock the door when you leave.
I completely forgot that we had a meeting this morning.
To long for someone or something. Also: to fail to reach, catch, or attend something.
I really miss my family. It has been six months since I saw them.
She missed the bus and had to take a taxi to the airport.
I missed the best part of the movie because I was in the bathroom.
Common mistake
"I miss my country" = I long for my country (I love it, it is not here). "I forget my country" = I am forgetting my country (removing it from memory). They are completely different. And "I missed to attend" is wrong: "miss" takes a noun or gerund ("I missed attending" / "I missed the meeting").
Trick to remember it
"Miss" has two main uses:
- 1.to long for ("I miss you").
- 2.to fail to catch or attend ("I missed the train", "I missed the deadline"). To forget or fail to remember to do something: always "forget".
Quick rule
- •"Forget" = fail to remember or fail to do something.
- •"Miss" = long for something absent, or fail to catch or attend something.
Did you know?
In informal English, "near miss" (almost-accident) is so ingrained that many use it even though technically it should be a "near hit", the "near miss" was almost a collision, not almost a failure. Another paradox of everyday English.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
She _____ es her family so much since moving abroad. She calls them every day.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
He always _____ s people's names. It's a bit embarrassing.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Related word pairs
Both can translate to 'olvidar', but they point to very different things.
"Forget" is to fail to remember something; "forgive" is to pardon someone.
"Above" is at a higher level without contact; "over" implies covering, movement, or crossing.
'Currently' means 'at the present time'; 'actually' means 'in reality', not 'nowadays'.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy