esquecerse

Esquecerse is a verb used primarily in Portuguese-speaking contexts and in Galician to express forgetting or neglecting something. In Portuguese, the standard reflexive form is esquecer-se, and it is conjugated with the respective subject pronouns (for example: eu me esqueci, tu te esqueceste, ele se esqueceu, nós nos esquecemos, eles se esqueceram). When followed by de, it means forgetting about something or someone (for example: esqueci de entregar o relatório; I forgot to submit the report).

Geographical and linguistic notes: Esquecerse is commonly found in Portuguese and Galician varieties of the Iberian Peninsula and their Lusophone-derived communities. It is closely related to the verb esquecer in its non-reflexive sense (to forget). In other Romance languages, parallel meanings exist with different spellings, such as olvidar in Spanish or olvidar-se in related dialects.

Usage contrasts: In standard Spanish, the typical equivalent is olvidar(se) de, and the reflexive form is more common with olvidar (olvidarse de). In Portuguese, the reflexive construction is built into the verb itself (esquecer-se), and it is used across informal and formal registers to convey forgetting an action, obligation, or detail, as well as forgetting about a person or topic.

Semantics: Esquecerse can refer to momentary lapses of memory, failing to recall planned actions, or neglecting responsibilities. It can also express a lapse in attention or carelessness, depending on context.

See also: olvidar, esquecerse (Galician and related Lusophone varieties), olvidar-se (Spanish).