How to Say "Remember" in French

se souvenir

/sə suv.niʁ/

To remember in French is se souvenir.

The phrase se souvenir is used to express the act of remembering something or someone.

Which one should you use?

While se souvenir requires the preposition de before an object, the synonym se rappeler is typically used with a direct object without de.

Additionally, the verb must be followed by the preposition de when an object is being remembered.

English speakers often mistakenly omit the de after se souvenir. Instead of saying Je me souviens mon nom, you should say Je me souviens de mon nom.

The phrase se souvenir is closely related to the Latin verb subvenīre, which literally means 'to come under' or 'to come to help'.
The word souvenir is a perfect 'false friend' for travelers, as in French it is a verb meaning 'to remember', whereas in English it is a noun for a keepsake.
Because it is a pronominal verb, the phrase uses 'reflexive' pronouns, making the speaker the object of their own memory. To say 'I remember', you literally say 'I remember myself of'.

On doit se souvenir de qui nous a aidés.
We need to remember who helped us.
This sentence demonstrates the use of se souvenir regarding people who helped.
Tatoeba #11595176 by Adrien_FR, translation #9620469 by CK
Matthieu ne pouvait se souvenir de rien.
Matthew couldn't remember anything.
This sentence shows se souvenir used in a negative context regarding remembering nothing.
Tatoeba #12478284 by always, translation #11590404 by Amastan
Il ne pouvait se souvenir de mon adresse.
He couldn't remember my address.
This sentence illustrates se souvenir when remembering an address.
Tatoeba #131228 by nimfeo, translation #291953 by CN
N'oubliez pas d'apporter vos documents.
Remember to bring your documents.
Je garde en mémoire cet événement spécial.
I remember this special event.
Tu te souviens de notre première rencontre?
Do you remember our first meeting?
N'oublie pas de m'envoyer un message.
Remember to send me a message.
Il faut que je te rappelle cette anecdote drôle.
I need to remind you of this funny anecdote.
Je me souviens de toi
I remember you
7 more sentences on Tatoeba

Sources

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