Scientific English as a Foreign Language
Answers to Lesson of October 27, 1997
Remember and Remind
1. "Do you remember when you first started working at EPFL?"
2. "Yes, I remember. It was February 1994."
3. "Tomorrow I'll be very busy. Can you remind me to call about the
conference?"
4. "Yes, I'll remind you."
To remember is to recall a thought within oneself. To remind is to help someone else remember something. So you must be careful about who is the subject and who is the object- if they agree, it's remember, if they don't agree it's remind.
In the examples above, in #1 and #2, the discussion concerns what's happening within the head of speaker #2. In #3 and #4, speaker 4 is going to help speaker #3 remember to do something. Here are some examples for you to try:
1. Tomorrow, I must remember to go to the doctor for my back.
2. It's very important. Would you please remind me?
3. If I don't remember, I'll never be able to get another appointment.
4. I must remind you to get your lab reports to me on time.
5. If you don't remember, your grade will be low.
6. But remind me to look at them this week.
A proton once said, "I'll fulfull
My long-term belief in free will.
Though theorists (may) say
That I ought to decay
I'm damned if I think that I will."
-D. Halliday
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Created May 6, 1998, by Nancy Burnham and Fred Hutson.