忘掉

wàngdiào

verb HSK 7-9 #3,373

Meanings

1 to forget completely; to put out of one's mind

Characters

away; off (result complement)

掉 acts as a result complement meaning 'completely away.' 忘 is just forgetting; 忘掉 is forgetting entirely, as if erasing it.

Examples

忘掉过去，重新开始吧。

Wàngdiào guòqù, chóngxīn kāishǐ ba.

Forget the past and start over.

这件事我怎么也忘不掉。

Zhè jiàn shì wǒ zěnme yě wàng bù diào.

I just can't forget this no matter what.

Tips

grammar

The potential complement forms 忘得掉 (can forget) and 忘不掉 (can't forget) are very common and natural. 忘不掉 is especially frequent in song lyrics and love stories — the thing you can never erase from your heart.

Stroke Order

忘 wàng

掉 diào