This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Joelson. He says:
Question: Dear VOA, I am an English learner from Brazil. I want to know the difference between "remind" and "remember.” Thank you very much.
Answer:
Hi Joelson, that is an excellent
question.Verb
pairs like
borrow/lend, come/go, and remind/remember
can be tricky for English learners.
verb pairs: pares verbales
(confusos); borrow/lend:
pedir prestado/prestar; come/go:
venir/ir; remind/remember:
acordarse de/recordar a; tricky:
tramposo;
The verbs REMIND and REMEMBER both
involve recalling something. But
there is a clear difference in
meaning. And they have different
sentence structures.
both involve recalling: ambos
implican recordar; a clear
difference in meaning: una clara
diferencia en su significado;
REMEMBER
REMEMBER means to keep a person or
thing in your mind or to bring a
person or thing back to your mind.
Think of REMEMBER as the opposite of
FORGET. Listen to some examples:
to keep ... in your mind:
mantener a ... en tu mente;
forget: olvidar/se;
I just REMEMBERED I left the water
on.
Acabo de RECORDAR que dejé el
grifo del agua abierto.
REMEMBER to bring a lock
to store your belongings.
RECUERDA traer uan cerradutra
para guardar tus pertenencias.
In the first example,
notice that REMEMBER is followed by
a clause. In
the second, it is followed by an
infinitive, also known as TO + VERB.
REMEMBER can also be followed by a
noun that ends in -ING, as
in “I REMEMBER leaving the water on”.
followed by a clause: seguido
de una cláusula (gramatical);
also known as: también conocido
como; to + verb: preposición
to + verbo; by a noun that ends
in -ING: seguido de un
sustantivo terminado en -ING
(gerundio); I remember leaving:
Recuerdo que dejé/haber dejado;
REMIND
Now, let’s talk about REMIND. REMIND
means to cause
SOMEONE ELSE to remember
something. In other words, a person
can make sure
SOMEONE ELSE does not forget
something. Listen to an example:
to cause someone else to remember:
hacer que otra persona recuerde;
can make sure: puede asegurarse
de que; somene else: otra
persona; does not forget: no
se olvide de;
Can you REMIND HIM to buy more cat
food? We ran out.
¿Puedes RECORDARLE A ÉL que
compre más alimento para gatos? Se
acabó.
When we use REMIND this way, the
verb is followed by an
object. In this case,
the object is HIM.
this way: de esta forma;
followed by an object: va
seguido de un objeto; rhe object
is HIM: (en este caso) el objeto
es A ÉL;
Another way we use REMIND is to say
that a similarity causes us to think
of someone or something. Listen to
an example:
another way: otra forma (en
que); a similarity causes us to
think of: un parecido o
semejanza nos hace pensar en;
That actor REMINDS ME so much OF my
brother. They have the same eyes and
laugh.
Ese actor ME RECUERDA mucho A mi
hermano. Ellos tienen los mismos
ojos y carcajada.
When we use REMIND this way, we
always include the word OF.
we always include the word OF:
siempre incluimos la palabra DE;
to remind someone OF another person:
recordarle a alguien DE otra
persona.
And that’s Ask a
Teacher for this week. I’m Alice
Bryant.
