21 December 2025
How do you talk about memories in German?
Two useful German words for “memory” are Gedächtnis and Erinnerung. Gedächtnis is the ability to retain and recall information and experiences; Erinnerung is a recollection of something, or the act of remembering. As a rough analogy, Gedächtnis is the storage system and an Erinnerung is a remembered event. The distinction
is not facts versus feelings: both words can relate to factual or personal memories.
Examples
Er kann Fakten gut im Gedächtnis behalten. He’s good at keeping facts in his memory.
Das weckt in mir Erinnerungen. That awakens memories in me.
The good news is that the English words “remember” and “remind” are both summed up neatly in only one word in German - erinnern:
Erinnere mich bitte noch mal daran. Please remind me again.
Ich erinnere mich nicht daran. I don’t remember (it). Note: “to remember something” is sich an etwas (accusative) erinnern: Ich erinnere mich an den Tag.
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