Thread: the word 'remember'

Despite learning russian for 5 years, still not sure how to translate the word 'remember'

pomnit (is perfect vspomit?)

is zapomnit 'memorise', like memorising an essay?

napomnish - is this remind? like 'will you remind me?'

so how do you translate 'I suddenly remembered that I had to go to the bank' or
'You have to remember that in Russian we often miss out these words'
'I remember how I enjoyed myself in Yalta'

Я вдруг вспомнил, что должен был идти в банк = I suddenly remembered that I had to go to the bank
Вы должны помнить, что в русском мы часто пропускаем эти слова = You have to remember that in Russian we often miss out these words
Я помню, как я наслаждался отдыхом в Ялте = I remember how I enjoyed myself in Yalta

Originally Posted by alexnoel

Despite learning russian for 5 years, still not sure how to translate the word 'remember'

pomnit (is perfect vspomit?)

is zapomnit 'memorise', like memorising an essay?

napomnish - is this remind? like 'will you remind me?'

alexnoel: I'm not a native speaker of Russian, but I think your translations are essentially correct.

помнить (imperfective) is the most basic and non-specific verb, and doesn't have a perfective with the same non-specific meaning
вспоминать/вспомнить suggests that you're making a concerted effort to pull up something from long-term memory, or possibly that you're nostalgically reflecting on something that happened long ago
запоминать/запомнить is "to memorize; commit to memory"
напоминать/напомнить is "to remind" (as in "Remind me about the meeting tomorrow"), but also "to be reminiscent of; to resemble" (as in "I don't know what this food is, but the flavor reminds me of bacon")

thanks! It's getting clearer...

Is there an equivalent for the word 'reminisce'?
'He is reminiscing about the past again'

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

alexnoel: I'm not a native speaker of Russian, but I think your translations are essentially correct.

помнить (imperfective) is the most basic and non-specific verb, and doesn't have a perfective with the same non-specific meaning
вспоминать/вспомнить suggests that you're making a concerted effort to pull up something from long-term memory, or possibly that you're nostalgically reflecting on something that happened long ago
запоминать/запомнить is "to memorize; commit to memory"
напоминать/напомнить is "to remind" (as in "Remind me about the meeting tomorrow"), but also "to be reminiscent of; to resemble" (as in "I don't know what this food is, but the flavor reminds me of bacon")

This is what I was taught in class.

Alexnoel, I think you would use вспоминать/вспомнить for 'reminisce.'

Он вновь предаётся воспоминаниям = He is reminiscing about the past again
(It sounds in a literary style)

Despite learning russian for 5 years, still not sure how to translate the word 'remember'

Yeah! Despite learning English for 20 years, I still often have difficulties with translation of 'remember'

This is over my head how one word could be utilized for both actions: 'put in memory' and 'retrieve from memory'

припомнить
usually used as a threat - Я тебе это припомню means - I will remember what you've done (some bad stuff) when time comes

Originally Posted by maxmixiv

Yeah! Despite learning English for 20 years, I still often have difficulties with translation of 'remember'

This is over my head how one word could be utilized for both actions: 'put in memory' and 'retrieve from memory'

Hmmm... I think "remember" is normally understood to mean "successfully retrieve from memory," and quite rarely would mean "put in memory" (for which "memorize" is a better word). Admittedly, sometimes there could be ambiguity. I mean, if someone said "I will remember that," 99% of the time I would take the meaning to be "I will not forget that" or "I will not fail to retrieve it from memory" -- but probably not "I will carefully memorize that."

So "I will remember that" COULD in rare cases be translated with something like Я это запомню ("I shall memorize that") or Я это выучу наизусть ("I shall learn it by heart"), but usually it means Я это не забуду.

Originally Posted by Doomer

припомнить
usually used as a threat - Я тебе это припомню means - I will remember what you've done (some bad stuff) when time comes

Hmm, I'm not sure of a good way to translate that into English with the specific sense of "threatening to never forget." Of course, there's always the Klingon proverb "Revenge is a dish best served cold"...