tu te souviens
In French, "you remember" is translated as tu te souviens.
The verb used here, se souvenir, is a reflexive verb, which means it requires a reflexive pronoun like te to function.
Which one should you use?
The form tu te souviens uses the informal tu and is used with friends, family or peers, whereas vous vous souvenez would be used for formal situations or multiple people.
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb is reflexive, requiring a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, etc.). When the object being remembered is a noun, you must use the preposition de after the verb, forming the construction tu te souviens de [noun].
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly say tu te souviens [noun] instead of the correct tu te souviens de [noun].
Did you know?
- If you want to say 'I remember' in a poetic or very formal way, you might see je me souviens, which is the official motto of Quebec.
- While tu te souviens is used for memory, the French use the word souvenir as a noun to mean a 'memento' or a physical object kept to trigger a memory.
- French has a second verb for 'remember', se rappeler, which is also reflexive but unlike se souvenir, it never uses the preposition de before a noun.
Examples in context
- Tu te souviens ?Do you remember?This example is useful for asking a simple "Do you remember?" using tu te souviens.Tatoeba #845610 by Cocorico, translation #21678 by CK
- Tu te souviens de ça ?Do you remember it?This example shows how to use the preposition de when asking "Do you remember it?" with tu te souviens.Tatoeba #7684209 by Micsmithel, translation #1222339 by CM
- Tu te souviens avoir dit ça ?Do you remember saying that?This example demonstrates using the phrase to ask "Do you remember saying that?" with tu te souviens.Tatoeba #5492280 by Akenaseryan, translation #5491550 by CK
- Vous vous souvenez de notre réunion la semaine dernière?Do you remember our meeting last week?
- Est-ce que vous vous rappelez de cette conversation téléphonique?Do you recall that phone conversation?
- Tu te souviens de cette fête incroyable?Do you remember that amazing party?
- 31 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Nathan and Léa are talking about an old friend.
- NathanTu te souviens de Marc ?Do you remember Marc?
- LéaOui, il était très drôle.Yes, he was very funny.
- NathanOn devrait l'appeler demain.We should call him tomorrow.
- LéaBonne idée, je suis d'accord.Good idea, I agree.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
