To express remembering [something/someone] in French, there are two main phrases you can use.
Se souvenir de [quelque chose/quelqu'un]
Se souvenir de is the slightly more sophisticated option to say you remember.
Note that you can never omit the de.
Note that you can never omit the de.
Remember that de becomes d' in front of a vowel or mute h, and contracts into du or des if followed by le or les.
Se rappeler (de) [quelque chose/quelqu'un]
Nous nous rappelons la première fois que nous t'avons rencontré.We remember the first time we met you.
Both se rappeler [quelque chose/quelqu'un] and se rappeler de [quelque chose/quelqu'un] are perfectly acceptable and interchangeable in French.
Cases with stress pronouns = to remember me, you, him...
Note that in such cases, you need to use rappeller with de, just like se souvenir de:
se rappeler de/se souvenir de [moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles]
You can never say Tu te rappelles moi.
se rappeler de/se souvenir de [moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles]
You can never say Tu te rappelles moi.
See how to conjugate souvenir Conjugate venir/tenir and derivatives in the present tense in French (Le Présent) and rappeler Conjugate -eter and -eler verbs in the present tense in French (Le Présent) - main rule (ll / tt) in the present tense.
Want to make sure your French sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Braimap today »
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Nous nous souvenons d'une nuit pluvieuse, il y a quelques années.We remember a rainy night, a few years ago.
Nous nous rappelons la première fois que nous t'avons rencontré.We remember the first time we met you.
