Remind or Remember?

The simplest way to differentiate Remind or Remember?

To remember is proactive because it comes from you, ‘I remembered his father’s name but not his!’ whereas when something or someone reminds you of something you play more a reactive role. Which is why it will always be followed by an objective pronoun as oppose to a subjective pronoun, like in ‘This painting reminds me of my time in Italy.’

Remember

Remember is when you think of a memory (a past experience):

• Remembering to brush your teeth at night is part of being an adult.
• Please remember to lock the door after you leave.
• I remember the first time I ever swam in the ocean, when I was 5 years old.
• Do you remember what happened when Joe forgot to buy a present for his wife on her birthday?
• I don’t think he remembers that we met 30 years ago.

Remember is also the opposite of “forget.” You can use remember to talk about keeping something in your mind:

• Please remember to wash the dishes after you finish eating lunch.
• I was already at work when I suddenly remembered I had a dentist appointment at 9:30. I called the dentist and rescheduled it for the next day.
• I can’t remember her name. Is it Alice or Annie?

Remind

Remind is when a person or thing makes you think about something.

• This song reminds me of my late father.
• Please remind me to call my mother after work. Today is her birthday.
• My mother reminded me to wash the dishes after I finished eating lunch.
• The secretary reminded Mr. Greene that he had a meeting at 4:30.
• Josh uses the calendar on his cell phone to remind him about important dates.
• Our shopping list reminds us what we need to buy at the supermarket.

TO RECALL, TO RECOLLECT AND TO MEMORIZE

The verbs to memorize, recollect and recall all work like the verb remember, as in the speaker (subject) actively tries to use their memory either to remember something in the past like, ‘I still recall the taste.’ or ‘I don’t recollect posting that.’ or in the future like ‘I need to memorize this list.’