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Recordar vs
Acordarse – How
to Use These
Memorable
Spanish Verbs
Recordar or
acordarse —
which of these
two Spanish
verbs should you
use as the best
translation of
‘to remember’?
The short answer
is—both!
In reality, the
difference
between recordar
and acordarse is
very subtle. The
main mistake
that the Spanish
students make
with these two
verbs is
actually not
related to
definition.
The main mistake
has to do with
how these two
verbs are put
together in a
Spanish
sentence.
In this post,
you’ll learn the
difference
between recordar,
acordar and
acordarse.
You’ll also
learn how to
avoid a few of
the most common
mistakes that
Spanish students
make with these
verbs.
First up, let’s
look at the
difference
between acordar
and acordarse.
Acordar vs
Acordarse
Reflexive verbs
in Spanish cause
a lot of grief.
And that’s fair
enough.
Sometimes the
reflexive and
non-reflexive
definitions of a
verb can change
quite
dramatically
(and other times
not).
In this instance
the change
between acordar
and acordarse is
quite
significant.
But, you can
relax because
the
non-reflexive
form of acordar
is rarely used.
Acordar means
‘to agree’ in
English. But,
more commonly,
you’ll find the
noun acuerdo—which
means
‘agreement’—for
use in the
context of
‘agreeing’. For
example:
English: I don’t
agree.
Español: No
estoy de acuerdo.
In contrast, the
more commonly
used reflexive
form, acordarse,
means ‘to
remember’. Here
is a quick
example (I’ll
provide more
examples later):
English: Do you
remember?
Español: ¿Te
acuerdas?
As you can see
the difference
between
‘agreeing’ and
‘remembering’ is
significant.
But, as I
mentioned,
you’ll rarely
have to use the
non-reflexive
form, so for now
just focus on
the reflexive
case.
Recordar vs
Acordarse – The
difference in
meaning
For the
difference
between recordar
and acordarse,
you have a
subtle nuance to
deal with.
A simple way to
think about
these two verbs
is to consider
recordar as the
equivalent of
the English verb
‘to recall’ and
acordarse as the
equivalent of
the English verb
‘to remember’.
Now, if you
think about it,
you’ll notice
the difference
between ‘recall’
and ‘remember’
in English is
also subtle.
If I asked you
to explain to
someone learning
English the
difference
between ‘recall’
and
‘remember’—how
would you do it?
I’ll say
this…your answer
would apply to
the Spanish
verbs as well.
Practically, you
can almost
always
substitute
recordar and
acordarse in the
context of
remembering
something.
If you are going
to make a
mistake with
these two verbs,
you’ll likely do
it with
structure
(discussed in
the next
section) or one
other use of
recordar.
In a slightly
different
context recordar
can also mean
‘to remind’. If
something
reminds you of
something else—a
flavour, a
smell, a picture
or a person—you
can use recordar.
Here are a few
examples:
English: You
remind me of my
sister.
Español: Me
recuerdas a mi
hermana.
English: This
smell reminds me
of my mother’s
cooking.
Español: Este
olor me recuerda
a la cocina de
mi madre.
Notice that you
need to use the
preposition ‘a’
when referring
to the thing you
are being
reminded of.
You’ll also see
here that
recordar can be
used to ask
someone to
‘remind you’,
‘help you to
remember’ or
‘help others
remember’. For
example:
English: Remind
me to buy milk.
Español:
Recuérdame
comprar leche.
English: I have
to remind
everybody what
happened.
Español: Tengo
que recordar a
todos lo que
pasó.
As a reminder,
in this last
context of
‘reminding’ or
‘helping to
remember’ you
can’t use
acordarse.
Recordar vs
Acordarse –
Sentence
structure
The most
important thing
to take away
from this post
is this next
part.
Sentences with
recordar and
sentences with
acordarse are
formed
differently.
If you want to
say “I
remember…something”,
then for
recordar the
sentence
structure is:
Recordar algo.
And for
acordarse the
structure is:
Acordarse DE
algo.
Here the
difference is
that recordar is
a transitive
verb and
acordarse is
intransitive.
This means that
recordar has to
have a direct
object and
acordarse
doesn’t.
But, if you want
to add a direct
object to a
sentence with
acordarse you
have to use the
preposition de.
Earlier, I gave
the following
example:
English: Do you
remember?
Español: ¿Te
acuerdas?
If you are
prompting
someone about
something that
happened in the
past, you can
ask with this
simple question
when the object
is known from
context.
But, in
contrast, you
can’t use
recordar without
a direct object.
This question is
incorrect:
English: Do you
remember?
Español: ¿Recuerdas?
So, as an
example, imagine
that you are
talking about a
conversation you
had with a
friend (Jose)
last week. Say
you want to know
if the person
you are speaking
with (right now)
remembers what
he said. You can
ask in the
following three
ways:
English: Do you
remember what
Jose said last
week?
Español: ¿Recuerdas
lo que Jose dijo
la semana pasada?
English: Do you
remember what
Jose said last
week?
Español: ¿Te
acuerdas de lo
que Jose dijo la
semana pasada?
English: Jose
said something
interesting last
week. Do you
remember?
Español: Jose
dijo algo
interesante la
semana pasada.
¿Te acuerdas?
Before moving
on, I’ll warn
you of another
common mistake
Spanish students
make—combining
recordar and
acordarse.
Imagine someone
asks you if you
remember
something and
you want to
answer quickly,
don’t say:
English: Yes, I
remember.
Español: Sí, me
recuerdo.
I definitely
know I have made
this mistake
before.
For some reason,
there is a
tendency to
combine
conjugations to
give the
reflexive form
of recordar.
This doesn’t
mean ‘to
remember’, in
South America it
means ‘to wake
up’ and in Spain
it isn’t really
used.
The present
conjugations of
recordar and
acordarse
I did just imply
that the reason
the error occurs
with the
combination of
recordar and
acordarse is
unknown.
But, if I was to
guess, I would
say it is
because they are
both stem
changing
o:ueverbs. This
means that the o
in both verbs
becomes a ue in
the present
conjugations.
Here are the
present
conjugations of
recordar:
PERSON RECORDAR
Yo Recuerdo
Tú Recuerdas
Él / Ella
Recuerda
Nosotros
Recordamos
Vosotros
Recordáis
Ellos Recuerdan
Here are the
present
conjugations of
acordarse (I
have put the de
in as a
reminder):
PERSON ACORDARSE
DE
Yo Me acuerdo de
Tú Te acuerdas
de
Él / Ella Se
acuerda de
Nosotros Nos
acordamos de
Vosotros Os
acordáis de
Ellos Se
acuerdan de
More examples
with recodar and
acordarse
To round out the
post, I’ll give
four more
examples for
each verb.
I haven’t done
anything
particularly
special with
these examples.
As I mentioned
earlier,
recordar and
acordarse are
almost always
interchangeable
in the context
of remembering.
That also holds
true with these:
1. Recordar – to
recall
English: I
barely recall
what happened
last night.
Español: Apenas
recuerdo lo que
pasó anoche.
English: I
recall that
conversation, it
was very
strange.
Español:
Recuerdo esa
conversación,
era muy extraño.
English: Do you
recall where Ana
went on her
trip?
Español: ¿Recuerdas
dónde Ana fue en
su viaje?
English: I can’t
recall the name
of that song.
Español: No
puedo recordar
el nombre de esa
canción.
2. Acordarse –
to remember
English: Do you
remember her?
Español: ¿Te
acuerdas de ella?
English: She
always remembers
her friend’s
birthdays.
Español: Ella
siempre se
acuerda de los
cumpleaños de
sus amigos.
English: I don’t
remember his
name (what he is
called).
Español: No me
acuerdo de cómo
se llama.
English: Did you
remember to turn
off the lights?
Español: ¿Te
acordaste de
apagar las luces?
Conclusion
After reading
this post, I
suggest you
practise three
things until
they become
second nature
for you:
Always remember
to use a direct
object with
recordar. E.g.
Recuerdo algo.
Only add a
reflexive
pronoun to
acordar and not
recordar. E.g.
Me acuerdo, not
me recuerdo.
When using
acordarse with a
direct object
always remember
to add the
preposition de.
E.g. Me acuerdo
de…