Conjugation of the verb Recordar.
Life is made up of moments. There are good ones and there are also not too good ones… Recordar is that action we do to bring back memories or just something we forgot. Recordar can be the Spanish equivalent of “to remember” or “to recall” something. For me, Recordar is a special verb in meaning and form. Because, yes… you guessed it right… Recordar is an irregular verb, so we have to pay a little bit of extra attention when we want to conjugate this magical verb. Let’s try to memorize how to conjugate this verb correctly and how to use it in context in a few sentences. We have also included a practice exercises at the end of this article to see if you can remember everything you have learned. Enough said, let’s put our brains to work.
When should we use Recordar?
When you want to talk about someone or something thinking about the past, or when you want to bring back something to your mind, that’s when Recordar will become useful. As we mentioned in the beginning, it can be translated as the verbs “to remember” or “to recall”. Let’s take a look at these few sentences:
Recuerdo que él me dijo que iba a salir. (I remember he told me he was going out).
Siempre que recordamos nuestro viaje a Cancún, nos ponemos muy felices. (Whenever we remember our trip to Cancun, we get very happy).
No recuerdo mi contraseña. (I don’t remember my password).
Recordar can also be used for reminders, meaning “to remind someone something”. For this, we will always use the word que after the conjugated form of the verb Recordar. For example:
Te recuerdo que mañana es el cumpleaños de Andrea. (I remind you that tomorrow is Andrea’s birthday).
El profesor de español siempre nos recuerda que repasemos las conjugaciones. (Our Spanish teacher always reminds us to review conjugations).
In this case we also have to use an indirect object pronoun (me, te, le and nos) because it replaces the person you are reminding something of. For example, in the second sentence, the Spanish teacher reminds US to do something: El profesor de español nos recuerda (a nosotros). Therefore, “nos” is replacing the personal pronoun Nosotros.
Lastly, but not least, Recordar can also be used to talk about the resemblance between two things or people. In this case we would also use an indirect object pronoun because something or someone reminds me of something or someone else (or “makes you think” about something). For example:
Me recuerdas mucho a tu papá. (You remind me a lot of your dad).
Tu sonrisa me recuerda el amanecer. (Your smile reminds me of sunrise).
Let’s conjugate!
We have selected the most common conjugations of the verb Recordar in three different moods: Indicative, Subjunctive and Imperative. Let’s not forget that Recordar is an irregular verb, so we have to pay attention to the irregularities that it follows. For all three moods we have the stems recuerd- and record-. Once you have the correct stem you just have to add the corresponding ending to the verb. Recordar endings conjugate just like all the other verbs that end in -ar.
Indicative mood:
Most common mood to conjugate verbs.
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Conditional | Future | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yo | recuerdo | recordé | recordaba | recordaría | recordaré |
| Tú | recuerdas | recordaste | recordabas | recordarías | recordarás |
| Él/Ella/Usted | recuerda | recordó | recordaba | recordaría | recordará |
| Nosotros | recordamos | recordamos | recordábamos | recordaríamos | recordaremos |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes | recuerdan | recordaron | recordaban | recordarían | recordarán |
Examples:
Yo recuerdo todas las conjugaciones del español. (I remember all Spanish conjugations).
Mis padres aún recuerdan dónde se conocieron. (My parents still remember where they met).
No recordé tomar mi paraguas. (I didn’t remember to take my umbrella).
When conjugating Recordar in Progressive Tenses, you have to use a conjugated form of the verb Estar + the gerund form of Recodar which is “Recordando”. For example:
Estamos recordando nuestro viaje a Perú con este video. (We are remembering our trip to Peru with this video).
Ayer estuve recordando cuando empecé a estudiar español. (Yesterday I was remembering when I started learning Spanish).
Estoy recordando que cuando era niño, me gustaba mucho este chocolate. (I am remembering that when I was a kid, I liked this chocolate a lot).
Subjunctive Mood:
As you may know, we use the Subjunctive Mood when we want to express a wish or a desire.
| Present | Imperfect | Future | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yo | recuerde | recordara, recordase | recordare |
| Tú | recuerdes | recordaras, recordases | recordares |
| Él/Ella/Usted | recuerde | recordara, recordase | recordare |
| Nosotros | recordemos | recordáramos, recordásemos | recordáremos |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes | recuerden | recordaran, recordasen | recordaren |
Examples:
Es importante que recuerdes todo esto el día del examen. (It’s important that you remember all this on the day of the exam).
Hay que tomar muchas fotos para que recordemos cada instante. (We have to take many pictures so that we remember every moment).
Imperative Mood:
Used when you want to give orders or commands. Please notice that in the Imperative Mood we cannot conjugate it with the personal pronouns Yo, Él/Ella, Ellos/Ellas. Also, we rarely use the Imperative Mood in its negative form with the verb Recordar, because it is not very common to ask somebody to not remember something in particular…
| Afirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | recuerda | no recuerdes |
| Usted | recuerde | no recuerde |
| Nosotros | recordemos | no recordemos |
| Ustedes | recuerden | no recuerden |
Examples:
Recuerda que mañana es el cumpleaños de Marina. (Remember that tomorrow is Marina’s birthday).
Recuerden que mañana tenemos junta a las cuatro. (Remember that tomorrow we have a meeting at four).
For the Imperative mood you can also use an indirect object pronoun (-me, -le, -nos, -les) at the end of the verb, to express the command of reminding someone to do something. In this case, you have to use the stem recuérda- plus one of the indirect object pronouns. For example:
Recuérdame que tengo que llevar mi pasaporte el día de mañana. (Remind me that I have to bring my passport tomorrow).
Recuérdales que lleguen a tiempo. (Remind them to arrive on time).
Practice time – Quiz!
-Complete the following sentences with the correct form of the verb Recordar.
1. ¡________ este momento por toda la vida! (I will remember this moment for a lifetime!).
2. No ________ muy bien cómo se llama ella. (I don’t quite remember what her name is).
3. Yo pego notas en mi pared, para que así ________ todo lo que tengo que hacer. (I stick notes on my wall, so that I can remember everything I have to do).
4. ¿Aún ________ tu primer beso? (Do you still remember your first kiss?).
5. Hace unos días, mi abuela _______________ su juventud con esta canción. (A few days ago, my grandma was remembering her youth with this song).
6. Mario, ________ que mañana no tenemos clases. (Mario, remember we don’t have classes tomorrow).
7. Mi papá dice que ______________ mucho a su hermano. (My dad says I remind him a lot of his brother).
8. Este sonido ______________ a las olas del mar. (This sound reminds me of the waves of the sea).
9. ¡Ya ________ dónde dejé mi celular! (I remember where I left my cell phone!).
10. Mi mamá ______________ cómo hacer este platillo. (My mom reminded me how to make this dish).
11. ________ a tu abuelo que tome su medicamento. (Remind your grandfather to take his medicine).
*Answers to the exercise:
1. ¡Recordaré este momento por toda la vida!
2. No recuerdo muy bien cómo se llama ella.
3. Yo pego notas en mi pared para que así recuerde todo lo que tengo que hacer.
4. ¿Aún recuerdas tu primer beso?
5. Hace unos días, mi abuela estuvo recordando su juventud con esta canción.
6. Mario, recuerda que mañana no tenemos clases.
7. Mi papá dice que le recuerdo mucho a su hermano.
8. Este sonido me recuerda a las olas del mar.
9. ¡Ya recordé dónde dejé mi celular!
10. Mi mamá me recordó cómo hacer este platillo.
11. Recuérdale a tu abuelo que tome su medicamento.
Some last words…
Can you guys guess what the title of this article means? “Recordar es volver a vivir”. In English it can be translated as “to remember is to live again”. Who doesn’t like to evoke good memories once in a while?
We hope you guys will remember how to use Recordar correctly! If you feel you won’t “recordar” anything from this, don’t worry! We’re here to help. Remember that you can always book a lesson with one of our native Spanish tutors, to be sure that you remember everything you have to remember from the verb Recordar. Enough said! We’ll see you guys in another blog. Carry on!
About the Author:
Specializations: Spanish Tutors on Zoom
Bio: Hello, everybody! I was born on an island in Mexico and lived there for about 13 years, and then I moved to Mexico City to attend school. I obtained my bachelor’s degree in Paris, where I lived for almost 4 years. Now, I’m currently living in Guatemala. I’m passionate about cultures and helping people achieve their goals. I have been working as a language teacher for about 4 years now, and I’m a language learner myself too! Looking forward to seeing you in class.
View my Profile to Book a Private Spanish Lesson
Other articles: Top 50 Regular Verbs in Spanish and How to Master Them, Meaning of the Word “Que” in Spanish – Definitive Guide, Learn Mexican Spanish – Greetings, Phrases, Slang, and Some Other Cultural Aspects, How to Find a Spanish Tutor, Spanish Verb Traer Conjugation