erinnern

German

Etymology

From Middle High German er- +‎ innern from Old High German innarōn (“make someone perceive inwardly”), from innar (“inner”), see the preposition in (“in”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ʔɛɐ̯ˈʔɪnɐn], [ʔɛɐ̯ˈʁɪnɐn]
  • audio(file)

Verb

erinnern (third-person singular simple present erinnert, past tense erinnerte, past participle erinnert, auxiliary haben)

  1. (transitive) to remind
  2. (reflexive) to remember
  3. (transitive, colloquial, rare) to remember

Usage notes

  • That which is remembered was predominantly indicated by a genitive object in older usage (until ca. 1940-1950 in writing), nowadays this is restricted to elevated style. It had also been possible to express that which is reminded with a genitive object, but this usage has been archaic for one or two centuriesː
Er erinnerte mich dieses Tages.
He reminded me of that day.
Ich erinnere mich dieses Tages.
I remember that day.
  • Today both senses are generally indicated with an + accusative:
Er erinnerte mich an diesen Tag.
Ich erinnere mich an diesen Tag.
  • Occasionally, the reflexive verb is replaced with a simple verb + accusative object. Sometimes associated with Northern German, this usage is much less common:
Ich erinnere diesen Tag.
I remember that day.

Conjugation

Further reading

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