Meaning & use
forgive or forget
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
To decide whether to stop being angry about a wrong or to stop thinking about it completely.
Grammar: Used as a pair of options, often in questions or after 'whether'. It is not a command like 'forgive and forget'.
Patterns
- whether to forgive or forget
- can you forgive or forget?
- learn to forgive or forget
After the argument, she asked herself whether to forgive or forget.
It's hard to forgive or forget when someone hurts you deeply.
Some people can forgive or forget easily, while others hold on to anger.
Common combinations
- forgive and forget
- The saying goes that you should forgive and forget.
- learn to forgive
- He had to learn to forgive his brother.
- never forget
- She will never forget what happened that day.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pardon
- More formal and often legal; 'forgive' is more personal and emotional.
- overlook
- Means to ignore a fault without necessarily forgiving it; 'forgive' involves letting go of anger.
Opposites
Word family
- forgiveness noun
- The act of forgiving someone.
- forgiving adjective
- Willing to forgive others.
- forgetful adjective
- Often forgetting things.
Commonly confused: forgive or forget or forgive and forget?
forgive or forget vs forgive and forget
This is a fixed idiom meaning to forgive completely and stop thinking about the wrong. 'Forgive or forget' is a choice between two actions.
Practice
It's not always easy to decide whether to ______.
Choose one answer.
After 'to' in an infinitive of purpose, we use the base form: 'forgive or forget'. The other options are not base forms and do not fit the grammar.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “forgive or forget”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.