be unable to remember

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "be unable to remember" is correct and usable in written English. You can use it when describing a situation where someone cannot recall information or memories. Example: "After the accident, she seemed to be unable to remember her own name." Alternative expressions include "cannot recall" and "fail to remember."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Science

Encyclopedias

Wiki

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

11 human-written examples

"Someday we'll look back at this time in our lives and be unable to remember it".

The New Yorker

Meanwhile, Sorley claimed to be unable to remember sending the abuse, and described herself as "off [her] face on drink" at the time.

The Guardian - Opinion

You will be unable to access the lesson plan you are meant to be teaching because it's in Google Docs, and you will be unable to remember what the point of the goddamn lesson was in the first place.

The Guardian

EVEN so, the odds are high that within weeks most of us will be unable to remember a single thing that either Hillary Rodham Clinton or Representative Rick A. Lazio said.

The New York Times

He remains one of those names about whom people often ask, "Is he still alive?" It's a fairly safe bet that when Simon Gray passed away last month, many people would be unable to remember which of them wrote A Day in the Death of Joe Egg.

The Guardian

There will be many times you will want to remember during your years at college, and many you will be unable to remember.

TechCrunch

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

47 human-written examples

Imagine being unable to remember the past.

The Guardian - Lifestyle

He was unable to remember the alleged protest.

The Guardian - Sport

Being unable to remember plots, I hear, can be a sign of a deteriorating brain.

The New York Times

Although I recall those nighttime flashbacks, I still am unable to remember the smash-up itself.

The New York Times

Although I recall those nighttime flashbacks, I still am unable to remember the smashup itself.

The New York Times

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

This phrase is particularly effective in legal or investigative writing to describe a person's inability to provide a statement based on memory.

Common error

Do not add redundant words like "completely" or "entirely" if the context already implies a total failure. While "completely unable" is grammatically correct, "be unable to remember" already conveys a binary state of incapacity in most professional contexts.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "be unable to remember" functions as a complex predicate combining the copula verb be, the negative adjective unable and an infinitive complement to remember. As noted by Ludwig AI, it serves to describe a state of cognitive incapacity or a situational failure to retrieve information from memory. It is often used to emphasize a total lack of access to specific data points or events.

Expression frequency: Common

Frequent in

News & Media

55%

Science

25%

Encyclopedias

10%

Less common in

Wiki

5%

Social Media

3%

Formal & Business

2%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

The phrase "be unable to remember" is a highly reliable and grammatically standard construction used to denote a specific cognitive or situational inability to access stored information. According to Ludwig AI, it is most prevalent in high-authority sources like The New York Times and scientific journals, where precision regarding memory failure is required. While it shares semantic space with simpler verbs like "forget", it carries a more clinical and objective tone, making it ideal for reporting on trauma, legal testimony or neurological studies. Writers should prioritize this phrase when they wish to emphasize the incapacity rather than just the act of forgetting. Alternatives such as "cannot recall" offer similar formality, while "draw a blank" is better suited for casual contexts.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

cannot recall

More concise and frequently used in formal reporting or testimony.

be incapable of remembering

Stronger emphasis on the physical or mental inability to perform the task.

be unable to call to mind

A more descriptive and slightly more formal way to express the act of retrieval failure.

have no memory of

Focuses on the absence of the memory itself rather than the inability to retrieve it.

fail to recollect

A more formal, slightly archaic alternative often found in literature or legal prose.

forget

The simplest and most common synonym, though it lacks the emphasis on incapacity.

draw a blank

A common idiom for a sudden, temporary inability to remember something.

have a lapse in memory

Refers to the event of forgetting rather than the state of being unable to do so.

lose track of

Informal and usually applies to sequences or time rather than specific facts.

be at a loss for

Idiomatic expression usually referring to specific words or names rather than events.

FAQs

How to use "be unable to remember" in a sentence?

You can use it to describe a state of incapacity, such as: "The patient was found to "be unable to remember" events from the past decade."

What is the difference between "forget" and "be unable to remember"?

While "forget" describes the act of losing information, "be unable to remember" emphasizes the current incapacity to retrieve that information, often for medical or psychological reasons.

What can I say instead of "be unable to remember"?

Depending on your context, you might use "cannot recall", "have no memory of" or the more informal "can't remember".

Is "be unable to remember" considered formal?

Yes, it is a neutral to formal construction. In academic or scientific writing, using ""be unable to remember"" is preferred over shorter, more colloquial forms.