I don't remember
and
I can't remember
Do these mean the same? I translated it to my mother tongue using Google translate and the translation is the same, but I have a feeling that it's not correct to say "I can't remember".
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1Don't = do not; can't = can not. They do not necessarily mean the same thing but that doesn't mean they can not be used to mean about the same thing. People use both versions regularly.– CatijaCommented Jun 29, 2015 at 6:46
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1And "can't remember" doesn't mean that they think they will never be able to remember; only that they cannot remember it now.– Brian HitchcockCommented Jun 29, 2015 at 7:56
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2can shows efforts as well! :)– Maulik VCommented Jun 29, 2015 at 8:07
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2There's also a hint of "I don't remember & can't be bothered thinking about it right now" vs "I can't remember, but I'm still trying & might eventually recall it"– DoneWithThis.Commented Jun 29, 2015 at 8:23
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1(Is editing treated lightly on ELL these days?)– ItsmeCommented Jun 29, 2015 at 9:21
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2 Answers
'I can't remember' is used when you need to show some difficulty in remembering(in general due to some conditions e.g. I can't remember when he told me about the Coffee Plan as I was busy in watching television.)
'I don't remember' is a negative in simple present. It is used for giving normal replies.(e.g. I don't remember the time, I didn't see the clock then.)
The difference in meaning of the two phrases appears to me as the following.
When you claim that you "can't remember", it means you tried but failed.
When you claim that you "don't remember", it means that such is the result, but no declaration is made to the actual attempt; in other words, it's not known whether your memory fails/has failed you, or that you simply haven't even tried to remember.
answered Aug 14, 2015 at 3:21
