In my previous post we touched upon forgetfulness, a subject which is increasingly close to my heart as I become ‘less young’ (sounds better than older, doesn’t it?). So, what am I doing sitting here in front of the computer … oh yes, an article about … wait, don’t tell me, it’s on the tip of my tongue … got it, forget-me nots! No, that was the last one … damn, I can’t remember … hang on, that’s it … remember!

Ricordare, now there’s an Italian verb that we can relate to in English … sounds like record doesn’t it? Let’s take a quick look at the English etymology:

Record, Middle English: from Old French record ‘remembrance’, from recorder ‘bring to remembrance’, from Latin recordari ‘remember’, based on cor, cord- ‘heart’. The noun was earliest used in law to denote the fact of being written down as evidence. The verb originally meant ‘narrate orally or in writing’, also ‘repeat so as to commit to memory’.

Now here’s one of those wonderful surprises that one often gets when learning a Latin language: the root of the word record is heart, or cuore in Italian! In fact the heart was once considered the home of memories, which doesn’t surprise me, because that’s certainly where I ‘feel’ (metaphorically speaking) my memories.

So now we have a fundamental connection between ricordare and record, but what about the word remember? Once again, let’s study the etymology:

Middle English: from Old French remembrer, from late Latin rememorari ‘call to mind’, from re- (expressing intensive force) + Latin memor ‘mindful’.

Equally fascinating: in English we keep our memories in our minds, and in Italian in our hearts. I guess they don’t call Italian a ‘Romance’ language for nothing. And let’s face it, isn’t that one of the qualities that we love about La Bella Lingua? And speaking of romance, let’s take a brief romantic interlude before we get down to the serious stuff:

Zanzare di Francesco Abrignani

Now to the nitty gritty, the verb ricordare, how do we use it? Firstly, as with scordare and dimenticare, ricordare is most commonly used in its reflexive form: ricordarsi. Here are a few examples:

presente – present

mi ricordo che quando ero piccolo avevo la passione per i treni a vapore = I remember that when I was little I loved steam trains
ti ricordi quella volta che siamo andati a Volterra? = do you remember the time that we went to Volterra?
Paolo mi ha detto che si ricorda quel libro = Paolo told me that he remembers that book
chi si ricorda il titolo di quel film? = who remembers the title of that film?
vi ricordate la password? do you (plural) remember the password?

imperfetto – imperfect tense

non mi ricordavo l’indirizzo = I couldn’t remember the address
Zio Mario si ricordava sempre il mio compleanno = Uncle Mario always used to remember my birthday
avrebbero messo in ordine la cucina, ma non si ricordavano dove mettere le stoviglie = they would have tidied up the kitchen, but they couldn’t remember where to put the dishes

passato prossimo – present perfect

mi sono ricordato il suo compleanno all’ultimo momento = I remembered his birthday at the last moment
vi siete ricordati di pagare la bolletta del telefono? = did you (plural) remember to pay the telephone bill?
bravo, ti sei ricordato di lavarti le mani! = good boy, you remembered to wash your hands!

imperativo – imperative

ricordati di chiamare Annalisa sto pomeriggio = remember to call Annalisa this afternoon
ricordatevi di non lasciare accese le luci quando uscite = remember (plural) not to leave the lights on when you go out
ricordiamoci che venerdì siamo invitati da Fabio e Madalina = let’s remember that we’ve been invited to Fabio and Madalina’s on Friday

If you need further help please leave a comment.