fail to remember

USAGE SUMMARY

"fail to remember" is an acceptable and usable phrase in written English.
You can use it when talking about a person not remembering something, either due to forgetting it or never having known it in the first place. For example: "John failed to remember which day the meeting was scheduled for."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Science

Academia

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

53 human-written examples

Second, people fail to remember the past.

The Washington Post

What I fail to remember, she counters with a sparkle, is how modern the Victorians were.

Independent

And, of course, they often fail to remember things that did happen.

Encyclopedia Britannica

The name was silly, sure, but who could fail to remember it?

The New Yorker

Frequently patients remember their surgeon but fail to remember who their anesthesiologist was and his/her key role in perioperative care.

Revista Colombiana de Anestesiología

"When we see in everyday life things that are petty, ordinary and banal, we generally fail to remember them..

The New York Times - Magazine

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

7 human-written examples

In another, she failed to remember me.

The New York Times

Interviewed after his promotion to colonel, he failed to remember the man's name.

The Guardian - Books

Like many utopian socialists, he fails to remember that half of nothing is nothing.

The Guardian - Opinion

Many people have failed to remember that Syracuse is the defending national champion.

The New York Times - Sports

It's just too bad it failed to remember that the fix for bad journalism generally includes more journalism.

The New York Times

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Avoid overuse in formal writing; vary your vocabulary with alternatives like "neglect to recall" or "cannot recollect" to enhance readability.

Common error

Be careful not to use "fail to remember" when you mean "refuse to remember". The former indicates a genuine lack of recall, while the latter implies a conscious decision to suppress a memory.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "fail to remember" functions as a verb phrase indicating an inability or failure to recall something. As shown in the Ludwig examples, it expresses a lack of memory regarding a specific event, fact, or detail. It's a straightforward way to state that someone does not remember something.

Expression frequency: Very common

Frequent in

News & Media

69%

Science

17%

Academia

6%

Less common in

Encyclopedias

2%

Formal & Business

0%

Wiki

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, "fail to remember" is a versatile verb phrase used to indicate an inability to recall something. According to Ludwig AI, it's grammatically correct and frequently used in various contexts, particularly in news and media. When writing, be mindful of the nuance you want to convey, as the phrase can suggest either a simple lapse in memory or a more deliberate act of not recalling something. Remember not to confuse it with "refuse to remember", which implies a conscious decision to suppress a memory, rather than a genuine lack of recall. For more formal or nuanced expressions, consider alternatives like "cannot recollect" or "do not recall".

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

have no memory of

States a lack of any memory related to something.

do not recall

A more formal and direct way of saying one does not remember something.

am unable to remember

Highlights the inability to remember something, often due to a specific reason.

cannot recollect

Suggests an inability to bring something back to conscious memory.

cannot bring to mind

Emphasizes the difficulty in retrieving a specific memory.

forget entirely

Emphasizes a complete absence of memory.

neglect to recall

Implies a lack of effort or attention in bringing something to mind.

lose recollection of

Emphasizes the loss of a memory over time.

omit to mention

Focuses on not including something in a statement or account, rather than forgetting it entirely.

it slipped my mind

An informal way of saying one forgot something, often unintentionally.

FAQs

How can I use "fail to remember" in a sentence?

The phrase "fail to remember" is used to express an inability or failure to recall something. For example, "I often "fail to remember" where I parked my car" or "Companies "fail to remember" their past wrongdoings".

What's a more formal alternative to "fail to remember"?

For a more formal tone, consider using phrases like "cannot recollect", "do not recall", or "am unable to remember".

Is it correct to say "failed to remembered" instead of "fail to remember"?

No, "failed to remembered" is grammatically incorrect. The correct form is "failed to remember", where "remember" remains in its base form after the auxiliary verb "to fail".

What is the difference between "fail to remember" and "refuse to remember"?

"Fail to remember" suggests an inability to recall something, while "refuse to remember" implies a deliberate choice not to acknowledge or recall something. The former is about memory loss, the latter is about active suppression.