Look at these sentences:
Tu te souviens de ton professeur de maths?
Do you remember your math teacher?
Tu te rappelles ton professeur de maths?
Do you remember your math teacher?
Je me souviens de cet été merveilleux.
I remember this wonderful summer.
Je me rappelle cet été merveilleux.
I remember this wonderful summer.
Tu te souviens de moi ?
Do you remember me?
Je me rappelle le premier cadeau que tu m'as fait.
I remember the first gift you gave me.
To express remembering in French, there are two main phrases you can use:
- Se souvenir de <quelque chose> which is the slightly more sophisticated option.
Here you can never omit the de.
Note also that when de is followed by le or les, you will use the contracted forms du or des, and that de un and de une will become d'un and d'une:
Je me souviens du premier cadeau que tu m'as fait.
I remember the first gift you gave me.
Tu te souviens des frères Jackson ?
Do you remember the Jackson Brothers?
Je me souviens d'une nuit pluvieuse, où tu es venu me voir.
I remember a rainy night, when you came to see me.
- Se rappeler (x) <quelque chose>
Colloquially, it's perfectly correct to use se rappeler de <> as well as se rappeler <> :
Tu te rappelles de ton professeur de maths?
Do you remember your math teacher?
Je me rappelle de cet été merveilleux.
I remember this wonderful summer.
ATTENTION:
In cases with stress pronouns (to remember me, you, him...), just like you'd use se souvenir de, you will use se rappeler DE <moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles> (literally "I remember of"):
Note: you can never say Tu te rappelles moi.
See also how to conjugate rappeler : Conjugate -eter and -eler verbs in Le Présent - main rule (ll / tt)
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Je me souviens d'une nuit pluvieuse, où tu es venu me voir.
I remember a rainy night, when you came to see me.
Je me souviens de cet été merveilleux.
I remember this wonderful summer.
Tu te souviens de ton professeur de maths?
Do you remember your math teacher?
Elle se rappelle ce garçon.
She remembers this boy.
Tu te souviens des frères Jackson ?
Do you remember the Jackson Brothers?
Tu te rappelles de moi ?
Do you remember me?
Elle se souvient de ce garçon.
She remembers this boy.
Je me souviens du premier cadeau que tu m'as fait.
I remember the first gift you gave me.
Tu te souviens de moi ?
Do you remember me?
Je me rappelle de cet été merveilleux.
I remember this wonderful summer.
Tu te rappelles ton professeur de maths?
Do you remember your math teacher?
Je me rappelle de lui.
I remember him.
Je me rappelle le premier cadeau que tu m'as fait.
I remember the first gift you gave me.
Je me rappelle cet été merveilleux.
I remember this wonderful summer.
Tu te rappelles de ton professeur de maths?
Do you remember your math teacher?
Elle se rappelle de ce garçon.
She remembers this boy.
Q&A
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
17 March 2017
1 reply
Paul asked: "Can you please explain why "Je me rappelle le Québec." is correct ?
What are the ways of saying ''I remember Québec.'' ? Je me rappelle du Québec. / Je me souviens du Québec. / Je me rappelle le Québec.
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
17/03/17
Great question indeed!
The answer is linked to the fact that in French, countries are always used with definite articles:
"J'aime la France." - I love France.
See also our related lesson:
https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/revision/grammar/using-le-la-l-les-with-continents-countries-and-regions-names
Therefore here, you will use either the contracted "du" (de+le) after "se souvenir" or "se rappeler", but you can also omit the "de" with "se rappeler", in which case you're left with "le".
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
19/09/16
Yes, indeed, this is a mistake! The example should say "Je me rappelle le premier cadeau...", as you ALWAYS need "de" with "se souvenir".
It's now been fixed!
Merci beaucoup et à bientôt !
Michael
Kwiziq community member
3/09/17
1. "Je me rappelle le premier cadeau..."
2. "Je me rappelle du premier cadeau..."
3. "Je me souviens du premier cadeau..."
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
19/11/15
In English, we say "you remember the way" - note the article "the." In French, you need that article as well: "vous vous souvenez du chemin" - "du" is the contraction of "de" + "le."
Ali
Kwiziq community member
29 November 2017
3 replies
Why is"Nous NE souvenons de notre dernier concert"? Surely "nous NOUS souvenons de... is correct?
Chris
Kwiziq community member
29 November 2017
29/11/17
Nous ne nous souvenons pas de notre dernier concert.
Or, in the positive form (as you have correctly surmised):
Nous nous souvenons de notre dernier concert.
I hope that helps, -- Chris (not a native speaker).
Ali
Kwiziq community member
29 November 2017
29/11/17
Ali
Kwiziq community member
29 November 2017
29/11/17