Remember in Spanish: Recordar vs Acordarse (+ Examples)

Quick answer: The two most common ways to say “remember” in Spanish are recordar and acordarse de. Recuerdo tu nombre and Me acuerdo de tu nombre both mean “I remember your name.” Recordar takes a direct object (no “de”), while acordarse is reflexive and always needs de before the thing you remember.

Both verbs are everywhere in everyday Spanish, and they’re easy to mix up. This guide covers what each one means, how to conjugate it, how to say “remind” and “I don’t remember,” and the mistakes learners make most often. There’s a short quiz at the end.

Remember in Spanish: the short version

English	Spanish	Example
to remember (something)	recordar + thing	Recuerdo la dirección. – I remember the address.
to remember (something)	acordarse de + thing	Me acuerdo de la dirección. – I remember the address.
to remind (someone)	recordarle algo a alguien	Te recuerdo que hay clase mañana. – I’m reminding you there’s class tomorrow.
to remind (someone) of (someone)	recordar a alguien	Me recuerdas a tu madre. – You remind me of your mother.
I don’t remember	No recuerdo / No me acuerdo	No me acuerdo de su número. – I don’t remember his number.
Remember! (command)	¡Recuerda! / ¡Acuérdate!	Acuérdate de llamar a tu abuela. – Remember to call your grandma.

Recordar: meaning and conjugation

Recordar means “to remember” or “to recall.” It works like the English verb: what you remember goes straight after it, with no preposition.

Recuerdo mi primer día de clase. – I remember my first day of class.
¿Recuerdas dónde dejaste las llaves? – Do you remember where you left the keys?

Recordar in the present tense (stem change o → ue)

Recordar is a stem-changing verb: the o becomes ue in every form except nosotros and vosotros.

Pronoun	Present	Preterite (past)
yo	recuerdo	recordé
tú	recuerdas	recordaste
él / ella / usted	recuerda	recordó
nosotros	recordamos	recordamos
vosotros	recordáis	recordasteis
ellos / ustedes	recuerdan	recordaron

For every tense and practice exercises, see our full recordar conjugation guide.

Examples with recordar

• No recuerdo su apellido. – I don’t remember his last name.
• ¿Recordaste comprar pan? – Did you remember to buy bread?
• Siempre recordaremos ese viaje. – We’ll always remember that trip.

Acordarse de: meaning and conjugation

Acordarse also means “to remember,” and in casual conversation it’s probably even more common than recordar. Two things make it different:

1. It’s reflexive, so it always comes with a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se).
2. It always takes de before the thing you remember.

¿Te acuerdas de mí? – Do you remember me?
Nos acordamos de todo. – We remember everything.

Acordarse in the present and preterite

Pronoun	Present	Preterite (past)
yo	me acuerdo	me acordé
tú	te acuerdas	te acordaste
él / ella / usted	se acuerda	se acordó
nosotros	nos acordamos	nos acordamos
vosotros	os acordáis	os acordasteis
ellos / ustedes	se acuerdan	se acordaron

In Argentina and Uruguay you’ll hear the voseo form vos te acordás instead of tú te acuerdas.

New to reflexive verbs? They work just like despertarse and vestirse.

Careful: acordar (without “se”) means “to agree”

Leave out the reflexive pronoun and the meaning changes completely: Acordamos vernos el lunes means “We agreed to meet on Monday,” not “we remembered.”

Recordar vs acordarse: which one should you use?

When you mean “remember,” they’re usually interchangeable. Just get the grammar right:

	Recordar	Acordarse de
Grammar	Direct object, no preposition	Reflexive pronoun + de
Tone	Neutral, slightly more formal; common in writing	Very common in everyday speech
Can mean “remind”?	Yes	No
Example	Recuerdo esa canción.	Me acuerdo de esa canción.

A simple rule: if you’re going to say de, use acordarse. If there’s no de, use recordar.

How to say “remind” in Spanish

For “remind,” use recordar, never acordarse.

• Remind someone of something / to do something: recordarle (algo) a alguien.
  Recuérdame que llame al médico. – Remind me to call the doctor.
• Remind someone of someone: recordar a alguien.
  Este lugar me recuerda a mi pueblo. – This place reminds me of my hometown.
• A reminder (noun) is un recordatorio.

“I don’t remember” and other useful phrases

• No me acuerdo. / No recuerdo. – I don’t remember.
• Si mal no recuerdo… – If I remember correctly…
• Me suena. – That rings a bell.
• Hacer memoria – to try to remember (Haz memoria: ¿dónde lo pusiste?)
• Que no se te olvide. – Don’t forget.
• Recuerdos a tu familia. – Give my regards to your family.
• Un recuerdo – a memory, or a souvenir
• Memorizar / aprender de memoria – to memorize / to learn by heart

“Remember!” as a command

	Recordar	Acordarse
tú	¡Recuerda!	¡Acuérdate!
usted	¡Recuerde!	¡Acuérdese!
ustedes	¡Recuerden!	¡Acuérdense!
tú (negative)	¡No recuerdes!	¡No te acuerdes!

Common mistakes

• ✗ Recuerdo de mi infancia → ✓ Recuerdo mi infancia (or Me acuerdo de mi infancia). Recordar doesn’t take de.
• ✗ Me acuerdo mi infancia → ✓ Me acuerdo de mi infancia. Acordarse needs de.
• ✗ Me recuerdo de… → ✓ Me acuerdo de… / Recuerdo… You’ll hear “me recuerdo de” in some regions, but it isn’t considered standard.
• ✗ Acordamos el cumpleaños (meaning “we remembered”) → ✓ Nos acordamos del cumpleaños. Without “se,” acordar means “to agree.”
• ✗ Recordo / recordas → ✓ Recuerdo / recuerdas. Don’t forget the o → ue stem change.

Quick quiz: recordar or acordarse?

Fill in the blank with the correct form.

1. ¿Tú ______ (acordarse) de mi cumpleaños?
2. Yo no ______ (recordar) dónde estacioné el carro.
3. Ella siempre me ______ (recordar) que haga la tarea.
4. Nosotros ______ (acordarse) de ti todos los días.
5. Ayer no ______ (yo, acordarse) de llamar a mi jefe.

Show answers

1. te acuerdas
2. recuerdo
3. recuerda
4. nos acordamos
5. me acordé

Keep practicing

Want more verb pairs that confuse English speakers? Read saber vs conocer, ver vs mirar and acabar vs terminar.