Remember happens in your own head. Remind means helping somebody else remember, so it always needs a person after it.
- Remember: you think of something from the past, or something you must do. I remember my first day at school.
- Remind: you make another person think of something. Please remind me to buy milk.
- Remind also has a second job: to make you think of someone because they are similar. You remind me of my uncle.
Remember: you bring it back yourself
Remember can stand alone, or it can have an object.
Suddenly, Mia remembered where she left her shoe.
I remember the day we planted the tree.
Do you remember her name?
Remember your umbrella!
The subject is the person who is thinking. Nobody else is needed.
Remind: you help someone else
Remind always has an object: the person who needs the reminder. It has three main patterns.
Please remind Grandpa to take his hat.
I reminded Leo about the swimming lesson.
That song reminds me of summer holidays.
- remind + person + to + verb: to do something
- remind + person + about + thing: so they think of it
- remind + person + of + thing or person: it makes me think of them, because of a likeness
Easy way to tell them apart
Ask: whose head is doing the work?
- Your own head? Use remember.
- Another person's head, and you are helping? Use remind.
I remember the song.
The song reminds me of summer.
💡 The OddLingo Trick
Remind has the word mind inside it: re-MIND.
When you remind somebody, you put something back in their mind. That is why a person must follow it.
Remember has no person to follow it. The thing is already in your own head.
⚠️ Common Mistakes
Remind needs a person.
❌ Please remind to call Mum.
✅ Please remind me to call Mum.
Do not use remember when you want someone to do the thinking.
❌ Remember me to buy bread.
✅ Remind me to buy bread.
Use of with a likeness.
❌ You remind me about my uncle. (when you mean you are similar to him)
✅ You remind me of my uncle.
📌 Good to know
- A reminder is a noun. I set a reminder on my phone.
- Remind takes about for a thing, and of for a likeness or a memory the person already has.
- You can say Please remember to... to ask yourself to do something: Remember to lock the door.
💬 In a conversation
Leo: Remind me to take my swimming bag tomorrow.
Mia: I will. Do you remember last week?
Leo: Don't remind me. I took the football bag.
Mia: Your goggles didn't fit the ball.