i realized that i forgot vs i realized that i had forgotten

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in different contexts. 'I realized that I forgot' is used when the realization of forgetting something is happening in the present or very recently. 'I realized that I had forgotten' is used when the realization of forgetting something occurred in the past, before another past event. The choice between the two depends on the timing of the realization in relation to the events being described.

Last updated: March 21, 2024

i realized that i forgot

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English when the realization of forgetting something is happening in the present or very recently.

This phrase is used when the realization of forgetting something is occurring at the moment of speaking or very close in time to the present. It indicates a recent realization of a forgotten action.

Examples:

I realized that I forgot to lock the door as I was leaving the house.
She suddenly realized that she forgot her keys on the kitchen counter.
He realized that he forgot to send the email just before the deadline.

Show examples from the web [+]

Aug 26, 2015 ... During a biology lab at university, I realized that I forgot my lab assignment. I ran back to my residence, woke up my roommate(who also helped ...
Dec 24, 2014 ... I had my rescue email to my old email that I deleted later. Then I realized that I forgot my security passwords and the only way to find it was to ...
(I realized that I forgot all of the relevent info!) Character Name: (I realized that I forgot all of the relevent info!) Character Name: Weiss Schnee of RWBY.
I always turn on my phone to check the time and after I've put away my phone I realized that I forgot to check the time. Other; Community. Photos. I check my ...

Alternatives:

I just realized that I forgot
I've just realized that I forgot
I suddenly realized that I forgot
I've realized that I forgot
I've just realized I forgot

i realized that i had forgotten

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English when the realization of forgetting something occurred in the past, before another past event.

This phrase is used when the realization of forgetting something happened in the past, before another past event. It indicates a realization of a forgotten action that occurred prior to a specific point in the past.

Examples:

She realized that she had forgotten her umbrella when it started raining.
I realized that I had forgotten to buy milk after I got home.
He suddenly realized that he had forgotten his wallet at the restaurant.

Show examples from the web [+]

... was... but I realized I had forgotten something here. Bridget: Which was...? Mark Darcy: Well, I realized that I had forgotten to... kiss you goodbye, do you mind?
Much to my embarrassment, I realized that I had forgotten his name. [=I was very embarrassed when I realized that I had forgotten his name]. [+] more examples ...
Jan 29, 2016 ... A few weeks ago, as I opened the letter I had put aside exactly one year ago, I realized that I had forgotten what I had written. As I read those ...
Dec 10, 2015 ... During those first days back, I realized that I had forgotten about my everyday life. School had started up again and my friends could tell that my ...

Alternatives:

I just realized that I had forgotten
I've just realized that I had forgotten
I suddenly realized that I had forgotten
I've realized that I had forgotten
I've just realized I had forgotten

What Our Customers Are Saying

Our customers love us! We have an average rating of 4.79 stars based on 283,125 votes.
Also check out our 2,100+ reviews on TrustPilot (4.9).

"Thank you!"
Sachi Nakama July 2024
"I have literally been through chat, PI, claude, bard and bing and I got conflicting answers! Thank you! Human intelligence reigns!"
Retha July 2024
"Faster than AI"
CYNTHIA December 2023
"This was very helpful and I personally think this site is the best."
Kaden October 2023
"It was extremely thorough and very helpful!"
imperialelisa October 2023
"7 years without any disappointment. Always 100% satisfied. You guys are the best in the world at what you do. Thank you so much :)"
Zubair Alam October 2023
"In a world of text messages and online communication, this is great to have as a live tool. Thank you."
Selena October 2023
"Without textranch I would be stuck!"
宏祐 October 2023
"Accuracy and fast response. Personal comments from editor. Thank you."
Clh September 2023
"I wasn't aware of this service, it's fascinating and more reliable than standard IA tools available on the internet"
Arturo September 2023
"The fact that you can get reliable fast feedback on your texts."
Vinicius Antonio August 2023
"you guys are better than grammarly i'm being honest here"
ordinary July 2023
"OMG! This is really good than any other text correction tools I've used so far. Highly recommend this."
Vehan July 2023
"Very fast and accurate. thank you."
mojtaba July 2023
"I love this app because it's help to writing skills all of students ♥️"
Tarisini July 2023
"This was exactly the mistake I was looking for, the wording dind´t sound right at first. Better than grammarly!"
Ente July 2023
"The immediate help that I received was reassuring and very satisfactory. Thanks."
priiiyanshuu July 2023
"this helps A LOT for my studies."
kathnunez02 June 2023
"Woow!! I would never have expected such precision! Thank you soooo much!!"
Berta June 2023
"Real Time Editor and not AI. Many Thanks."
Priya June 2023
"The very first thing excites me about Textranch is how much your editors care."
sepideh June 2023
"The fact that texts are checked by human editors rather than by AI, etc. I appreciate this!"
Анна June 2023
"Feel welcome, immediate response, high quality feedback"
martin.roy June 2023
"This is the best app that I have ever seen"
Burulai May 2023

i realized that i forgot vs i realized that i had forgotten