Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[fw]

Hello everyone.

Does �I remembered to mail the letter� mean that I mailed it?

For example, is the following passage impossible?

I remembered to mail the letter on the way to school this morning but I forgot to mail it.　So I�m going to mail it on my way home.

Best regards,
fw

[Alcarin]

Not a teacher but my native tongue is English and I am a college student so Ill try to help you out a little with this one.

Firstly yes, the first line means you mailed the letter. The following passage ,however, is impossible because it is a contradiction. Essentially what you are saying is that you mailed the letter and forgot. Thus exists the contradiction because if you mailed it you did not forget. The sentence should probably be something to the degree of:

"On my way to school I remembered to bring the letter but forgot to put it in the mail. So on my way home I will put the letter in the mail."

This sentence can be written in various different ways from formal to casual but generally I think that is what you were looking for.

Back to the first sentence though, something about it doesn't seem right. Maybe it is just a regional thing but where I live we would normally just say "I put the letter in the mail" exluding "remembered" because if you put the letter in the mail you obviously remembered to do it.

Hope that helps a little bit,
James