Remember, Remind, Recall, Recollect

Remember, remind, recall, recollect

Hello English learners. Welcome to a new lesson. We will be talking about the difference between the verbs remember, remind, recall and recollect, which are often mistaken by English learners. 

The English teachers at My Lingua Academy are happy to help you improve your English. You can attend our online individual and group private lessons or learn English for free with our blog posts where you will find loads of grammar and vocabulary lessons, as well as exercises and quizzes.

Remember

To remember means to have in your memory a picture or a piece of information. 

• Lucy could vividly remember the day when she first met her husband.
• I can’t remember the face but the name rings a bell.
• John couldn’t remember where he parked his car.

We can use remember with infinitive or gerund (verb + ing). Remember + infinitive means not to forget.

• I must remember to lock the door before I go to bed.
• Remember to pay the electricity bill.

Remember + gerund means having a recollection of a past event.

• I remember leaving my phone here. 
• Darren could remember seeing his friend crossing the street.

You can find more about the verbs which change their meanings with infinitive or gerund here

Remind

If you remind someone to do something, you help them remember it.

• Please, remind me to send the invitations.
• Thank you for reminding me to check my mail.
• Jane reminded her husband to renew his driving licence.

It also means to make someone think of something.

• Watching the children play reminds me of my childhood.
• The food he ate reminded him of his holiday.
• The dog reminded him of the dog he once had.

Recall

Remember and recall are very often interchangeable especially if we are talking about things that are related to memory.

• If I remember/recall well, your sister lives in Oxford.
• Rupert remembered/recalled seeing the thief at the door of the bank.

If a company recalls its product, they ask people to return that product because there is something wrong with it.

• The Petersons were invited to recall their new car because it was defective.

The difference between remember and recall is that remember means to have something in your memory while recall means to access your memory.We can say:

• Remember to call me back when you get home. (don’t forget to call me)

We can’t say:

• Recall to call me back when you get home.

You will often hear the expression “as far as I recall”

• As far as I recall, there was some milk in the fridge. Where is it now?

Recollect

To recollect means to remember something; it is similar to remember and recall.

• Sandra could recollect being in that restaurant many years ago.
• I can’t recollect what the journalist said.
• After all those years, John could no longer recollect the details of the conversation.

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