[Grammar] I forgot or I've forgotten

When in class, if a student realizes he has forgotten / he forgot his book, should he say:

"Miss, I forgot my book." or "Miss, I've forgotten my book." ?

Thank you in advance for your answers.

Louiseb said:

When in class, if a student realizes he/she has forgotten/forgot his book, should he/she say:

"Miss, I forgot my book (no full stop here)" or "Miss, I've forgotten my book (no full stop here)" ?

Thank you in advance for your answers.

Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum. :hi:

Please see my changes above.

I don't know if children in the UK are still expected to use "Miss" or "Sir" when addressing a teacher. However, with it or without it, in British English "I've forgotten my book" is correct.

Originally Posted by Louiseb
When in class, if a student realizes he/she has forgotten/forgot his book, should he/she say:

"Miss, I forgot my book (no full stop here)" or "Miss, I've forgotten my book (no full stop here)" ?

Thank you in advance for your answers.

Click to expand...

In AmE, both are fine. But American kids wouldn't say "Miss"; they would use the title with the teacher's surname: "Miss Smith", "Mrs. Jones", "Mr. Anderson", etc. At least that's how it was when I was a kid in the 1970s.

louiseb, please note that it's common English usage to replace he/she, him/her and his/her with they, them and their respectively.

When in class, if a student realizes they have forgotten/forgot their book, should they say: ....?

I would use the simple past when relating the story at a later date but not when reporting it directly to the teacher. I would use:

Oh no! I've forgotten my book.
Miss, I'm really sorry, I've forgotten to bring my homework in today.

If I were relating the story later, I would use:

I forgot my book on Tuesday. My teacher was really angry.
Miss Jones was really understanding yesterday when I forgot to bring my homework in.

The question is about the moment of realisation, so I would choose the present perfect too, but I do agree with Piscean that the past is OK.