remind
remember
I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I’m going to learn, I must do it by listening.
Me lo ripeto tutte le mattine: niente che dico quest’oggi mi insegnerà niente. Quindi, se intendo imparare, devo farlo ascoltando.
– Larry King
Me lo ripeto tutte le mattine: niente che dico quest’oggi mi insegnerà niente. Quindi, se intendo imparare, devo farlo ascoltando.
– Larry King
✓ Can you remind me to book the restaurant tomorrow?
✗ Can you *remember* me to book the restaurant tomorrow?
Puoi ricordarmi di prenotare il ristorante domani?
✓ Luckily my secretary reminded me about the meeting.
✗ Luckily my secretary *remembered* me about the meeting.
Per fortuna la mia segretaria mi ha ricordato la riunione.
✓ You remind me of an old friend of mine.
✗ You *remember* me an old friend of mine.
Mi ricordi un mio vecchio amico.
In English, when we remember something, it comes into our head spontaneously. When someone or something reminds us about something or someone or reminds us to do something, they tell us about them so that we don’t forget them or forget to do them. (Italian uses the same verb, ricordare, for both situations.)
Notice the difference in meaning between remind someone about something and remind someone of something:
✓ I reminded Peter about the duck in the oven. (= I told Peter to remember not to burn the duck.)
Ho ricordato a Peter l’anatra nel forno.
✓ The way he walked reminded me of a duck. (= His way of walking made me think of a duck.)
Il suo modo di camminare mi ricordava un’anatra.
If you remind someone about something, you tell them to remember it. If you remind someone of something or someone, you look like that thing or person.
You can remind yourself about something or to do something when you make a special effort to remember it.
When the burdens of the presidency seem unusually heavy, I always remind myself it could be worse. I could be a mayor.
Quando le responsabilità della presidenza sembrano insolitamente pesanti, mi ricordo sempre che potrebbe essere peggio. Potrei essere un sindaco.
– Lyndon B. Johnson
Quando le responsabilità della presidenza sembrano insolitamente pesanti, mi ricordo sempre che potrebbe essere peggio. Potrei essere un sindaco.
– Lyndon B. Johnson
Now try the quiz below! There are TEN answers. The pass mark is 90% (9 out of 10). Click on the blue arrows to go to the next or previous question. You can check your answers immediately or when you’ve finished the quiz.