I have found it useful to translate rappeler as 'recall'. It's synonymous with remind, but its English language grammar is more similar to rappeler- you recall x to someone , you remind x of someone - and rappeler surely has a root in appeler, to call, re-appeler, recall. Helpful?
A new way of looking at rappeler
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chris w.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
A new way of looking at rappeler
This question relates to:French lesson "Rappeler [à quelqu'un] = to remind [someone] in French"
Asked 3 years ago
Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
But 'recall' (in the sense of 'bring to mind') doesn't mean 'remind'. 'Recall' is synonymous with 'remember' - the subject is the person doing the recalling. 'Remind' is like the passive voice of 'recall' - it's the object that is doing the recalling prompted by the subject who/which is doing the reminding - and vice versa. You could transliterate "I recall Joe by [thinking of] Jack" as "I am reminded of Joe by Jack or "Jack reminds me of Joe". I do the recalling, but Jack does the reminding (albeit unwittingly).
Still, if it helps you to get the translation right, recall away!
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