Remember vs Reminder vs Remainder

Remember

Remember is a verb which means to think of an occurrence in the past or to keep in mind something that has been told.

Examples –

·         Always remember to switch off the lights before leaving the house.

·         She remembers me so well even after 5 years.

·         I still remember the day we met; you haven’t changed much from then.

·         Remember that every child is unique; don’t compare them.

Remembering is a voluntary action. Some things are just ingrained in your mind. Your memory retrieves them automatically may be because they are important.

Sometimes, recall is used in place of remember. Both mean the same, but in factual descriptions and legal contexts, recall is preferred.

“Try remembering what were you doing when this incident happened.”

vs

“Try recalling what were you doing when this incident happened.”

Reminder

Reminder is the noun form of the verb remind. To remind someone means to make them think about something you said once more and vice versa. For example –

·         Remind me to keep my documents tomorrow before I leave.

·         I reminded you so many times to get the books, but you still forgot!

·         You have to keep reminding the plumber to have a look at the pipeline issue.

·         You don’t have to remind me so many times.

·         He reminds me of my brother.

The bottom line – when someone else makes you think of something – that is a reminder, when you yourself think of it – that is remembering.

Here are few sentences that use both. Reading these will help you grasp the concept even better.

·         Although I remember my duties, I am reminded of the same everyday by my wife.

·         How can you not remember to get that medicine even after so many reminders?

·         You don’t have to remind me again and again; I remember that I have to go the book shop.

·         You should remind yourself to switch off the lights when not in use. Remember, it is our duty to protect the earth.

Note that in the last sentence we are using ‘remind yourself’ which is same as remembering.

Remainder

Remainder (noun) is a part that is left from something that has been consumed or used. In childhood, we have learnt about division using remainder method.

You can think of the remainder as something that remains.

Examples –

·         I couldn’t finish my meal, so I gave the remainder to the security guard.

·         When you divide 11 by 5, the remainder is 1.

Remainder can be used as a verb too, where it means to sell an item (CD, DVD or book) at a reduced price, because the sales are not as good as expected.

All the copies of this CD are being remaindered.

Notice that reminder and remainder are totally different words with different meanings that can be confused because of the similar spellings. Hope this article has made the difference clear enough for you to remember and write them properly, without being reminded again.