Hello and welcome to English with Languissimo®, the podcast in English which will help you reach your goals so that you can lead a better life and career.
My name is Vanessa. I’m the founder and CEO of Languissimo®.
Today, I will cover the difference between “to remember” and “to remind”.
- “To remember” is translated in French with “se souvenir de/d’” or “se rappeler” : I remember this woman” (je me souviens de cette femme or je me rappelle cette femme)
You can use “to remember” + infinitive when you want to tell someone to do something (in the future). For example: "remember to lock the door” (n’oublie pas de fermer à clé or pense à fermer à clé).
You can also use “to remember + verb + ing” when you want to ask someone if they did something (in the past). For example: “do you remember locking the door?” (Tu te rappelles avoir fermé à clé?
"Remembrance" (souvenir) and « memories » (souvenirs) are two nouns commonly associated with "to remember”. “Remembrance Day” (le jour du Souvenir - Canada and l’Armistice - France) is a statutory holiday in November.
- “To remind” is translated in French with “rappeler”: “I want to remind you that tomorrow is a holiday” (je voulais te/vous rappeler que demain est congé).
“To remind someone of something” (rappeler quelque chose à quelqu’un) is a very common phrase: “she reminds me of someone” (elle me rappelle quelqu’un); “that song reminds us of our trip” (cette chanson nous rappelle notre voyage).
You can use “to remind” + infinitive when you want someone to not forget to do something. For example: “I want to remind you to send the invite” (je veux te/vous rappeler d’envoyer l’invitation). It has the meaning of “remember” in that context: “remember to send the invite”.
Please note that you can put “reminders” (rappels) on your phone. You can also write or send them. “Reminder” is often used in the phrase “this is just a friendly reminder”.
Some Practice Questions
- Do you have “Remembrance Day” in your country?
- What do you remember doing earlier today?
- What do you have to remember to do today?
- What is your happiest memory?
- Do you remember the quote from the Scream 2 movie?
Ta da! That’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed this podcast. Subscribe to English with Languissimo®, practice, take care and talk to you soon! Big hugs 😊