Ich habe vergessen, es ihm zu sagen.

Sentence Discussions German
#1

It feels like “es” should preceede “vergessen.” Is the given position correct?

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#2

It is correct this way.

“Ich habe es vergessen.”
but
“Ich habe vergessen, …zu …”. In this case the “es” belongs to the infinitive.

If you move the “es” to the main clause, the infinitive needs another object, like:
“Ich habe (es) vergesen, ihm die Wahrheit zu sagen.”
In this case the “es” would be possible, but not necessary and unusual.

3 Likes
#3

Many thanks! Your examples clarified an aspect of sentence construction that has been eluding me.

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#4

You could preceed “vergessen” with an (optional) “es”, but you’d still need an “es” (or a substitute, as explained by @anon94972132) as an object in the other clause:

Ich habe (es)^ vergessen, es^^ ihm zu sagen.

  • ^ means optional
  • ^^ means mandatory, unless you give a substitute such as, for example, “die Wahrheit”