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"Forget" and "forget about"
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Lothar has asked a very good question: what's the difference between forget and forget about?
Forget about is used with a couple specific senses of forget.In the following senses, the use of about is optional.
When forget is used to mean "to stop thinking or caring about (someone)":
He was once a famous actor, but now most people have forgotten (about) him.
You shouldn't forget (about) your old friends.
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When forget is used to mean "to stop thinking or caring about (something) on purpose":
We need to forget (about) our differences and learn to get along.
“I'm sorry I'm late.” “That's OK. Forget (about) it.” [=don't worry about it]
Forget about finding a way to escape—there's no way out of here.
I had almost forgotten about my car accident last year.
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About can add some emphasis when something specific is forgotten, but sometimes the structure of the sentence changes:
I forgot to pay the bill. = I forgot about paying the bill.
To emphasize even more:
I forgot all about paying the bill.
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