In this mini episode, you will learn the two meanings of “remember.”
Episode 457 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the two meanings of “remember.” Send your questions about English and your comments and suggestions to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hi! This is Puyan, from Iran. And you are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 457 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I am going to talk about a very common word that I think you already know. I am going to tell you about the two different meanings of this word. It's possible that these two different meanings have caused you a little bit of confusion.
The word is remember. Remember. R-e-m-e-m-b-e-r. Remember.
You might be thinking that you already understand everything there is to know about this word. And maybe you are right.
But maybe you will find this interesting. Remember means two different but related things. Here's how I think we can think about it:
One meaning of remember is something like “to put something in your memory, to store something in your memory.” We can imagine that we are placing or storing something inside a computer. If we remember it, we keep it in our memory. It's just like storing or saving something inside a computer. If we remember it, we keep it there. This is the meaning that we see in a sentence like this:
“He has told me his name three times already. This time, I will definitely remember it. This time, I will definitely remember his name.”
In other words, this time, I will save or store his name inside my mind. I will keep it there.
Here is the second meaning of remember:
We can think of it as finding something inside our mental computer and pulling it out so that we can look at it. Instead of putting something in, we are taking something out. This is the meaning of remember that you see in a sentence like this:
“I know that he told me his name. Now, I need to try to remember it.”
In other words, now I need to find that name. I know it's in my mind somewhere. I need to take it out. I need to find it and look at it.
In a way, remember has these two opposite meanings. One meaning is “to put something inside your mind and keep it there.” And the other meaning is “to find something inside your mind and take it out.” Put in and take out. One word has these two meanings.
That is a little bit more information about the common word remember. And I think this is something you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 457 of Everybody ESL. Remember: If you have any questions about English, or if you have comments for me, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Puyan recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode. And until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye!