What’s the difference between
Don’t forget to close the door and…
Don’t forget closing the door?
Thanks for the answer
.
I forgot to close the door – the door is still open; I failed to close it
I forgot closing the door – The door is closed. I closed it, but then I forgot that I did that.
(Your first question is the common one. Your second question is rather unusual; it would require a special situation.)
.
The same structure was posted on the forum but with past tense form remembered to do" vs. "remembered doing
Hi
Yes. The timescale.
In my today’s 
understanding:
-
to close : in such cases an action follows the first verb (forget). (Result: I had to close, but didn’t do it.)
-
closing: an action happens before the first verb (or, maybe, at the same time?)
(Result: (1) I have closed the door and (2) then forgot it.)
Hi Pamela,
It’s probably easier to use forget in different examples.
I forgot to do something means I didn’t do it because it went out of my mind as in: I forgot to turn off the cooker and as a result the meat was burnt.
Forget + ing is often used in negative sentnces as in: I shall never forget taking my driving test - meaning the experience will never leave my mind and I shall always remember that experience.
Now we could put the two forms together in one sentence:
Once I forgot to turn off the oven and I shall never forget seeing the expression on the faces of the rest of the family when they realised they had nothing to eat.
Alan
Hi Alan,
Yes, I understand and agree with you!
Hi Tamara 
That is indeed a way of looking at it. Basically the order in which the two verbs take place:
-
remember to set the alarm clock: first he remembers, then he sets
-
remember setting the alarm clock: first he sets, then he remembers (that he did it)
He was late for work because he overslept. He can’t figure out how he overslept because he can clearly remember setting the alarm the night before.
Tamara, are you planning to use this ordering of the verbs exclusively for forget and remember?
Could you give me your input from a learner’s point of view? Do you find this a useful and/or reliable way of remembering the difference in meaning (i.e., is it easy to learn)? Does it help you envision the difference clearly? Do you find it confusing in any way? Thanks, Tamara.
Regarding Attila’s original question, I agree with Mr. Mic. The sentence “Don’t forget closing the door” is unusual and would require some sort of very special situation.
Amy
Hi, Amy!
I use the above ‘time rule’ for
remember / forget
and for regret.
I find it highly useful for me.
The two meanings are very different and it’s great when such a simple rule allows to make clear distinguish (even though it’s possibly leads to some wrong cases. Might be )
As for me, it’s easier to remember it in the form:
(…-ing) 2 ← 1 → 2 (to …)
--------------------------> time
The difference is absolutely clear, isn’t it?
…Amy, as in my reality I usually have rather meagre feedback , I don’t know, how often (and with what verbs, if any) it might create wrong sentences. How general it is.
I myself had had no confusion, as yet
Hi Tamara
Thanks for the feedback. Your diagram looks great.
Those three verbs - remember/forget/regret - work nicely.
You’ve got yourself a very specific rule there.
:lol: Absolutely! These sorts of things seem to be a little less than “absolutely clear” for some people, though. I’ve had students who seemed to be completely immune to such diagrams and lines. Others catch the bug right away. :lol:
Amy
Exceptions just confirm general rules.
…Oh, yes… languages are not Math, and English is not an exception to the rule …
Yankee wrote:
he can clearly remember setting the alarm the night before.
For me is hard to understand that there’s a word (remember) symbolizes the Present Tense and there’s a word (setting) symbolizes the Present Tense but…
When I put the 2 words together in a sentence it means that I DID something in the past.
I’ve always used it this way:
he can clearly remember to have set the alarm the night before.
In my understanding, when talking about the past, the verb should be in a past form .
Now I realised that it isn’t so simple but please tell me if the “remember to have set” is correct and what the exactly meaning of it is.
You wrote this, too
Does it help you envision the difference clearly?
It’s the word “envision”. I searched for this in 2 dictionaries without success and what’s more I can’t find it in the Cambridge Online dictionary.
Envision generally means to imagine, fancy, to forsee
Hi attila,
You asked:
If you use remember with the infinitive form , it usually points to something in the future as in:
I must remember to pay the telephone bill before it’s too late. In other words you mustn’t forget to pay it.
It follows therefore that you wouldn’t use the past infinitive - you said to have set
If you use remember with the -ing form it is usually about something in the past. You can use either the Present form or the Past form.
You could say I remember paying the telephone bill. This means you have a picture in your mind of actually doing it/paying it.
You could also say I remember having paid the telephone bill. This means that you remember completing the action of paying the bill.
Hope this is clear.
Alan
Thanks Alan,
Just to be sure:
I remember paying the telephone bill means that I’ve a picture in my mind that I gave the man money but I don’t know if I gave him enough money or if he could change my money etc.
I remember having paid the telephone bill means that I definitely know that I gave the man the exact amount of money.
Is the expression I used before totally wrong?
I remember to have paid the telephone bill
Hi Attila
Compare these sentences:
LAST NIGHT:
He went to a party last night. There was a lot of singing at the party..
TODAY:
He can clearly remember the party (that he went to last night).
He can clearly remember singing (at the party he went to last night.)
You shouldn’t think of “singing” as a “present tense” in the sentence. “Singing” is not a tense, but rather just a form of the word “sing”. In the sentence it acts more like a noun. “Singing” is an activity that happened last night.
Today you remember (the) singing.
Pamela has already mentioned the definition. I used “envision” to mean “to picture in your mind”
thefreedictionary.com/envision
Hope that helps a bit more…
Amy
I found it
envisage verb [T] (US ALSO envision) SLIGHTLY FORMAL
Please answer the below question, too. Thanks.
Is the expression I used before totally wrong?
I remember to have paid the telephone bill
Hi Attila
Yes, that sentence would always be incorrect.
But, as Alan mentioned, using “having paid” or “paying” would be OK in the sentence.
Amy
Dear Mister Micawber
It is an interesting point. 
You know every night I lie down to sleep I ask myself if I closed/ locked the door…and almost always I fail to remember;I go back and double check. Such a bad memory! SO really I forget locking the door.
Tom
Hi Tom,
I’m afraid in your sentence your use of
doesn’t really work.
You wrote:
For the use to make sense you would have to write:
Such a bad memory! So really I forget whether I’ve locked the door.
I would say a possible use of forget + ing would be as follows:
I shall never forget flying for the first time. (often used in negative sentences)
or perhaps with the imperative:
Forget slimming - forget losing weight and just enjoy your food. That gives the idea of forget about in the sense of not worry about.
Alan