Recordar in Spanish: Conjugations, Meanings & Uses

In this guide, we will cover the following topics for ‘recordar’ in Spanish:

1. What does ‘Recordar’ mean?
2. ‘Recordar’ Conjugations
3. How to Use ‘Recordar’ in Spanish
   • Talking about memories
   • Talking about reminders
   • Expressing a resemblance
4. Expressions & Idioms with ‘Recordar’
5. Synonyms of ‘Recordar’ in Spanish

What does ‘Recordar’ mean?

In Spanish, ‘recordar’ means ‘to remember’, ‘to recall’, ‘to reminisce about’ or ‘to remind’. As a result, it can be used to talk about memories, reminders and similarities between people or objects.

1. To talk about someone thinking about the past, ‘recordar’ means ‘to remember’, ‘to recall’, ‘to reminisce about’.
2. When talking about reminders, ‘recordar’ means ‘to remind’.
3. If referring to some type of resemblance you see between two things or people, ‘recordar’ translates as ‘to remind’.

‘Recordar’ Conjugations 

‘Recordar’ is an irregular verb. So, depending on the tense and the subject you use, the stem will change the ‘o’ to ‘ue’.

In the conjugation charts below, I’ll explain to you when and how you can conjugate ‘recordar’ in Spanish. 

Indicative

Present tense conjugation

Notice that in the present tense, nosotros and vosotros use the regular stem ‘record’, while the rest of the subjects use ‘recuerd’.

Preterite tense conjugation

To conjugate to the preterite tense, you’ll need to use the regular stem ‘record’.

Imperfect tense conjugation

Future tense conjugation

To conjugate recordar to the future tense, you’ll only need to add the proper endings to the infinitive verb.

Conditional tense conjugation

Just like the future tense, ‘recordar’ in the conditional tense is conjugated by simply adding the conditional endings shown below to the verb in the infinitive form. 

Progressive Tenses

Estamos recordando los viejos tiempos.
We are reminiscing about the old days.

Ayer mi abuela estuvo recordando su juventud.
Yesterday my grandmother was recalling her youth.

Perfect Tenses

El testigo ha recordado los hechos con lujo de detalle.
The witness has recalled the events in great detail.

Recordar Subjunctive Conjugations

Present subjunctive conjugation

All of the subjects, with the exception of nosotros and vosotros, will use the irregular stem ‘recuerd’.

Imperfect subjunctive conjugations

If you want to conjugate ‘recordar’ to the imperfect subjunctive, you’ll use the stem ‘record’.

Perfect subjunctive

Se me olvidó traer tu libro, me hubieras recordado.
I forgot to bring your book, you should have reminded me.

¿Puedes creer que haya recordado mi nombre?
Can you believe that he remembered my name?

Imperative

Imperative conjugation

Remember that in the negative imperative form, you’ll need to follow the present subjunctive conjugation.

[‘Recordar’ imperative] + [complement]

Recuerda cerrar la puerta cuando te vayas.
Remember to close the door when you leave.

Chicas, recuerden que nos vamos a las 2. 
Girls, remember that we’re leaving at 2. 

Take Note: ‘Recordar’ isn’t conjugated to the negative imperative very often. This is because it isn’t very common to order someone to not remember something. 

How to Use ‘Recordar’ in Spanish with Examples

‘Recordar’ is a verb that directly relates to memory. As a consequence, it can be used in the following contexts:

1. Talking about memories
2. Talking about reminders
3. Expressing a resemblance

In the sections below, I’ll explain to you what you need to do to use ‘recordar’ in each one of these contexts. To help you create your own sentences, I’ll include phrase structures and examples that you can use as guidance.

To talk about memories

One of the main uses of ‘recordar’ in Spanish is to describe that a person is recalling events or actions that took place in the past. As a result, ‘recordar’ can be translated as ‘to remember’, ‘to recall’ or ‘to reminisce about’.

[‘Recordar’ conjugated] + [complement]

Recordaré este momento por el resto de mi vida.
I will remember this moment for the rest of my life.

¿Recuerdas la vez que fuimos a acampar?
Do you remember the time we went camping?

De repente recordé que, cuando tenía 12 años, tomaba clases de baile.
I suddenly remembered that when I was 12 years old I took dance classes.

If you want to talk about the thing or person that is being remembered without explicitly mentioning them in the sentence, you’ll have to add direct pronouns.

 [Direct object pronoun] + [‘recordar’ conjugated] + (complement)

¿Me recuerdas?
Do you remember me?

Lo recuerdo a la perfección.
I remember it perfectly.

¿Quién es ella? No la recuerdo. 
Who is she? I don’t remember her. 

Take Note: Many Spanish learners confuse recordar with acordarse because both verbs can work as pronominal verbs and refer to memories. However, the difference between ‘acordarse’ and ‘recordar’ is that ‘recordar’ can only work with direct object pronouns while ‘acordarse’ is a reflexive verb. 

No la recuerdo. 
I don’t remember her. 

La verdad, no me acuerdo de ella. 
To be honest, I don’t remember her. 

Talking about reminders

Since it’s related to memory, in Spanish, you can use this verb when describing that a person reminds someone else of something they have to do. As you may imagine, with this meaning, ‘recordar’ is the direct translation of ‘to remind’. 

 [Indirect object pronoun] + [‘recordar’ conjugated] + que + [complement]

Le recordé a mi mamá que se tomara sus pastillas.
I reminded my mom to take her pills.

Te recuerdo que mañana es la entrega del proyecto.
I remind you that tomorrow is the delivery of the project.

¿Por qué no me recordaste que hoy no teníamos clases?
Why didn’t you remind me that we didn’t have classes today?

Expressing a resemblance

In other situations, ‘recordar’ is used to indicate that something or someone reminds you of another person or thing because they share a certain resemblance. So, in this case, ‘recordar’ is translated as ‘to remind’ or ‘to remind one of’. Notice that with this meaning you’ll also need to use indirect pronouns.

 [Indirect object pronoun] + [‘recordar’ conjugated] + a + [complement]

Me recuerdas mucho a mi hijo.
You remind me a lot of my son.

¿Este clima no te recuerda a la playa?
Doesn’t this weather remind you of the beach?

Mi papá me dice que le recuerdo a su hermano.
My dad tells me that I remind him of his brother.

Recordar Expressions & Idioms

These are some idiomatic expressions that use the verb ‘recordar’ that will help you expand your vocabulary and get closer to your goal of speaking like a native!

Recordar es volver a vivir is used to describe how memories are so powerful that it feels like you’re reliving past events through them. Its literal translation is ‘to remember is to live again’.

Recordar con cariño is useful to express affection. It can be translated as ‘to remember fondly’.

Synonyms of ‘Recordar’ in Spanish

Acordarse is an extremely common word in Spanish. It means ‘to remember’ or ‘to remind’ and it can be used in almost all of the same contexts as ‘recordar’.

Conmemorar is the direct translation of ‘to commemorate’. It is used in more formal contexts when talking about honoring the memory of a person or a historical event.

Rememorar is a very formal synonym of ‘recordar’. It can be translated as ‘to remember’, ‘to recall’ or ‘reminiscence on’. 

Related Resource: Difference Between ‘Acordarse’ and ‘Recordar’