Помнить / Забыть (remember vs forget)

To remember (state): по́мнить — imperfective, stative; "hold something in memory" To forget (event): забы́ть (perfective) / забыва́ть (imperfective) Type: a meaning-contrast page, not a single aspect pair — по́мнить and забы́ть are antonyms that share the same case government

English keeps "remember" and "forget" symmetrical — both are verbs you can do once, in a moment. Russian does not treat them symmetrically. по́мнить is a state: it describes the continuous fact that something sits in your memory, the way to know describes a continuous fact, not an act. A state cannot be "completed," so по́мнить has no natural perfective — there is no clean "I finished remembering." Its opposite, забы́ть ("forget"), is exactly the kind of thing that happens in a single instant: the moment the information drops out. So забы́ть is naturally perfective, and it builds a regular imperfective забыва́ть for the repeated or gradual version. The pay-off is that the two verbs frame the same content from opposite sides — по́мнить о встре́че ("remember the meeting") and забы́ть о встре́че ("forget the meeting") — and they take the same government. Learn the cases once and they serve both verbs.

Present tense

A perfective has no present, so the present is built only by по́мнить (state) and забыва́ть (the imperfective of "forget"). Both are utterly regular; watch the conjugation class — по́мнить is second conjugation (по́мню, по́мнишь), забыва́ть is first (забыва́ю, забыва́ешь).

The stress is stable: по́мнить keeps the stress on the по́- stem in every form (по́мню, по́мнишь, по́мнят), while забыва́ть is stressed on the -ва́- suffix throughout. Because по́мнить names a state, its present is the everyday way to say "I (still) remember": Я по́мню = the thing is in my head right now.

Past tense

Both verbs build a regular gender-marked past with no stress shifts. по́мнил keeps stem stress; забы́л keeps the stress on забы́-.

In the past the contrast is sharp. по́мнил describes a state that held over a stretch of time ("I remembered it the whole way / for years"); забы́л is the single event of forgetting, almost always the right choice for "I forgot." A common English mistake is to reach for "I remembered" as an event ("suddenly I remembered") — but that event sense is not по́мнил; it is the perfective вспо́мнил ("recalled"), which belongs on the по́мнить / вспо́мнить page. по́мнил only ever means the ongoing "I remembered = it was in my head."

Future tense

The asymmetry shows again. по́мнить is imperfective, so its future is the compound бу́ду по́мнить ("I will go on remembering"). забы́ть is perfective, so it has a simple future built on the забу́д- stem — and note the unexpected stem: забы́ть → забу́ду (a -д- appears, as in быть → бу́ду). The imperfective забыва́ть makes the compound бу́ду забыва́ть.

The forms забу́ду, забу́дешь… забу́дут look like a present but are the future, because забы́ть is perfective and a perfective never describes the present moment. The everyday "I won't forget" is Я не забу́ду (perfective), and "I'll always remember" is Я всегда́ бу́ду по́мнить (imperfective compound) — see the perfective simple future.

Imperative

This is where the aspects diverge most usefully. The positive imperative of "remember" uses по́мни (по́мните); the famous warning Не забу́дь! ("Don't forget!") uses the perfective забу́дь — which goes against the usual rule that negated commands take the imperfective.

Why Не забу́дь! and not the imperfective? Because here you are warning against a single, specific lapse — "don't let this one thing slip your mind." That is a perfective negative imperative, the special pattern used for warnings against an unwanted single event (compare Не упади́! "Don't fall!", Не опозда́й! "Don't be late!"). The imperfective Не забыва́й exists too, but it means something gentler and habitual: "don't (keep) forget(ting), keep it in mind, stay in touch."

Participles and verbal adverbs

The most useful of these is the perfective passive participle забы́тый "forgotten" — забы́тый зо́нтик ("a forgotten/left-behind umbrella"), забы́тые слова́ ("forgotten words"). The verbal adverb по́мня ("bearing in mind") is common in careful writing: По́мня об опа́сности, он шёл осторо́жно — "Mindful of the danger, he walked carefully."

Key uses & collocations

1. Shared government: что (accusative) or о чём (о + prepositional)

This is the heart of the page: both verbs take the same two patterns. Use the accusative for the concrete thing remembered or forgotten — a name, a number, an object: по́мнить и́мя, забы́ть зо́нтик. Use о + prepositional for "about" something more abstract — an event, a duty, a fact: по́мнить о встре́че, забы́ть о собра́нии. See о + prepositional and the accusative direct object.

2. забы́ть = "to leave behind" (accusative + place)

A very high-frequency extra sense of забы́ть: to leave something somewhere by forgetting it. The thing is accusative, the place takes the usual location prepositions (в / на + prepositional).

3. забы́ть + infinitive — "forget to do"

To "forget to do something," put a verb in the infinitive after забы́ть. The infinitive is normally perfective (one action you failed to perform): забы́ть купи́ть, забы́ть позвони́ть, забы́ть закры́ть.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• по́мнить is a state, забы́ть is an event. A state can't be "completed," so по́мнить has no clean perfective; forgetting happens in an instant, so забы́ть is naturally perfective with the imperfective забыва́ть.
• Present (state / impf): по́мню / по́мнишь / по́мнят (2nd conj., stem-stressed) and забыва́ю / забыва́ешь / забыва́ют (1st conj.).
• Past: по́мнил (an ongoing state) vs забы́л (one slip). "Suddenly I remembered" is вспо́мнил, not по́мнил.
• Future: imperfective compound бу́ду по́мнить; perfective simple забу́ду (note the -д- stem, like бу́ду).
• Imperative: по́мни (remember!) and the warning Не забу́дь! (perfective, one-off) vs Не забыва́й (habitual "stay in touch / keep in mind").
• Shared government: что (accusative, a concrete item) or о
  • prepositional (about an abstract thing) — the same for both verbs. забы́ть also means "leave behind" and takes a perfective infinitive ("forget to do").