Lesson 63: To Remember and To Like
Here we'll look at a new reflexive verb - Acordar. 'To Remember' as well as how to clarify who like what!
'Acordar' - "To Remember"
This is another reflexive verb but as we said in a previous lesson there is no absolute rule which tells you which verbs are reflexive and which ones aren't.
You can apply some common sense and ask "Is this something I could do to myself?" and in this case remembering is something you do to yourself - you take an action (voluntary or involantary) to remember something
Its also one of those verbs where the 'o' splits when we put pressure on it and it becomes 'ue' as happens with 'poder' ("To be able to") and 'puede' ("I am able to / I can").
 Spanish |  English |
|---|---|
| Acordar | To Remember |
| Me acuerdo | I remember |
| No me acuerdo | I don't remember |
So lets do a mega sentence - "I don't remember if I gave it to him or to her" - by breaking it down:
- "I don't remember" - 'No me acuerdo'
- "if" - 'si'
- "I gave it" - 'se lo di'
- "to him" - 'a él'
- "or" - 'o'
- "to her" - 'a ella'
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| No me acuerdo si se lo di a él o a ella | I don't remember if I gave it to him or to her |
And another: " We don't remember if we gave it to him or to them"
- "We don't remember" - 'No nos acordamos'
- "if" - 'si'
- "we gave it" - 'se lo dimos'
- "to him" - 'a él'
- "or" - 'o'
- "to them (feminine group)" - 'a ellas'
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| No nos acordamos si se lo dimos a él o a ellas | We don't remember if we gave it to him or to them (feminine group) |
Extending how we use 'Gustar' - "To like"
We've already done the basics of "to like" with the key being to remember that it is not really "to like" in Spanish but "it pleases" - e.g. "It is pleasing to him".
But as 'Le gusta' can mean "he/she/it/you (formal) likes it" we might need to clarify who is liking and we do that the same way as we saw prebiously ... we add 'a él', 'a ella', etc.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Le gusta | She likes it |
| Le gusta a ella | She likes it |
| A ella le gusta | She likes it |
Personally I prefer the second word order above because it almost feels more English - "To her she likes it ...." and so with everything nice and clear you can then go on to explain what the person likes.
And in the past tense.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Le gustó a ella | She liked it |