Lembrar-se (To Remember)

In Portuguese, lembrar often behaves like a mirror. When you use it to say "I remember," you are essentially "reminding yourself" of something. This makes it a pronominal verb: lembrar-se. Here is the golden rule: The pronoun and the preposition de are inseparable partners. If you use the pronoun (me, te, se, nos), you must use de. If you drop the pronoun, you usually drop the de too.

• Pronominal: Eu me lembro de você (I remember you).
• Simple: Eu lembro você (I remind [someone of] you / I remember you - less common but valid in some dialects).

In daily conversation, especially in Brazil, you will hear Eu me lembro de... constantly. It sounds natural and polished. Without the se and the de, the verb often shifts meaning to "to remind." For example, Isso lembra minha casa means "This reminds [me of] my house." See the difference? One is about your memory. The other is about a resemblance. Even native speakers mess this up sometimes in informal speech. But for your B1 level, sticking to the package deal is the safest bet. It shows you understand how Portuguese handles internal thoughts.

1. 1To use lembrar-se correctly, follow these steps for the present tense:
2. 2Pick your subject pronoun (Eu, Você, Nós, etc.).
3. 3Add the matching reflexive pronoun (me, se, nos, se).
4. 4Conjugate lembrar normally as an -ar verb.
5. 5Always add de before the object of your memory.
6. 6Here is how it looks in practice:
7. 7Eu me lembro de... (I remember...)
8. 8Você se lembra de... (You remember...)
9. 9Ele/Ela se lembra de... (He/She remembers...)
10. 10Nós nos lembramos de... (We remember...)
11. 11Vocês se lembram de... (You all remember...)
12. 12Eles/Elas se lembram de... (They remember...)
13. 13Note: In European Portuguese, the pronoun often goes after the verb: Lembro-me de.... In Brazil, it almost always comes before: Eu me lembro de.... Both are correct, but pick one and stay consistent! If you're using a negative like não, the pronoun always jumps to the front: Eu não me lembro de nada.

Use lembrar-se de whenever you are pulling information from your brain.

• Recalling People: Meeting an old classmate? Eu me lembro de você da escola! (I remember you from school!)
• Facts and Info: In a job interview, you might say: Eu me lembro de ter lido sobre sua empresa (I remember reading about your company).
• Daily Tasks: Asking directions? Você se lembra de onde fica o banco? (Do you remember where the bank is?)
• Sentimental Memories: Eu me lembro do cheiro do café da minha avó (I remember the smell of my grandma's coffee).

It is perfect for those "Oh, I remember now!" moments. It feels active and personal. You are the one doing the remembering. It's like your brain is a filing cabinet and you're pulling out a specific folder.

Do not use the pronominal form when you are the one doing the reminding to someone else. If you are acting as a human alarm clock, drop the se.

• Reminding Others: Eu lembrei o João da reunião (I reminded João about the meeting).
• Resemblance: Este perfume lembra a primavera (This perfume reminds [one] of spring).
• Giving a Reminder: Por favor, me lembre de comprar leite (Please, remind me to buy milk).

In these cases, you aren't "remembering" yourself. You are projecting a thought onto someone else or comparing two things. It’s a subtle shift, but it changes the logic of the sentence entirely. Think of it this way: lembrar-se is internal; lembrar is external.

• The Loner Error: Using the pronoun without de.
• ✗ Eu me lembro seu nome.
• ✓ Eu me lembro DO seu nome. (Remember: de + o = do).
• The Missing Link: Using de without the pronoun.
• ✗ Eu lembro de você. (Very common in informal Brazil, but technically incorrect in formal grammar).
• ✓ Eu me lembro de você.
• Forgetting Contractions: de loves to merge with articles.
• de + o = do
• de + a = da
• de + esse = desse
• Mixing with Recordar: The verb recordar (to remember/recall) is a synonym but it never uses de. If you mix them, you get a grammar smoothie that doesn't taste right.

Lembrar-se has a close cousin: Recordar. While they mean the same thing, recordar is a direct verb. No preposition needed.

• Eu recordo aquele dia. (Formal/Literary)
• Eu me lembro daquele dia. (Everyday conversation)

Then there is esquecer-se (to forget). It follows the exact same rules as lembrar-se. It is the evil twin.

• Eu me esqueci da chave. (I forgot the key).
• Eu me lembrei da chave. (I remembered the key).

If you learn the se + de pattern for one, you have mastered both. It’s a two-for-one deal in the Portuguese grammar shop!