Ask the wise old owl
What’s the difference between remind and remember? ?
The words “remind” and “remember” came up in one of my lessons recently, so I thought it would be good to take a closer look at them.
I sometimes hear things like “please remember me to…” and this is incorrect.
You should remember that your homework is due in on Friday. You should not forget to do it!
Your teacher might remind you that the homework needs to be handed in on Friday.
You can set yourself a reminder so that you remember to do it.
Remember has two meanings:
1. When you think about something that happened in the past:
- I remember visiting this place when I was a child.
- I remember taking that photograph.
- As I was walking home, I remembered that I’d left my keys on my desk.
2. When you don’t forget to do something:
- Remember that we are meeting for dinner after work on Thursday.
- I need to remember to put the clocks forward this weekend.
- I can never remember that man’s name!
Remind is different because it is when something makes you either think about something, or remember to do something. You already knew about it, but it’s a way of making sure you remember.
- This music reminds me of our last holiday.
- I reminded everyone about the meeting.
- I’ll set a reminder on my phone.
- Please remind everyone that the team meeting will take place in the small meeting room this week because the other meeting room isn’t available.
Hopefully this will help you to remember the differences between these two words. You can use this page to remind yourself how to use them. I can help you to remember, but I can’t remember you anything!
More articles in this series
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