The verbs erinnern and sich erinnern both mean "to remember." However, they are not interchangeable and are not the only verbs used to describe the act of remembering.
Generally, the verb erinnern means to remind someone else, while the reflexive verb sich erinnern means to remember or recall something oneself. The preposition for both verbs is an, which is followed by the accusative.
Das Geräusch erinnert an das Summen einer Biene.
The sound is reminiscent of the buzz of a bee.
Caption 26, Deutsch mit Eylin: s, ß und ss
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Er erinnerte sie daran, dass man halten muss, was man verspricht.
He reminded her that you must keep what you have promised.
Caption 66, Märchen - Sagenhaft:Der Froschkönig
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Oh, ja, das stimmt. Ich erinnere mich an die Fotos, die du mir geschickt hast.
Oh yes, that's right. I remember the photos that you sent me.
Caption 21, Die Wohngemeinschaft: Besuch
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Other verbs can imply remembering as well. The phrase an etwas denken literally means "to think of," but can be used when you want to make sure that someone doesn't forget to do something, or be applied to past events:
Denkt an die Tage, die hinter uns liegen.
Think of the days that lie behind us.
Caption 4, Andreas Bourani Auf uns
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The verb merken can be translated as "to notice" but also "to remember."
So merkt man sich vieles noch viel besser.
That way, you'll remember many things much better.
Caption 57, Deutsch mit Eylin: Auf natürliche Weise Sprachen lernen mit Yabla
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An important distinction should be made between the nouns die Erinnerung and das Gedächtnis. While die Erinnerung refers to an individual memory or the act of remembering, das Gedächtnis is our general capacity to store information.
Peter Barsch geht es vor allem um die Erinnerung an eine Zeit, die man heute kaum noch verstehen kann.
What matters for Peter Barsch is, above all, the remembrance of a time that you can barely understand anymore today.
Captions 26-27, 25 Jahre Mauerfall: Radtour durch die Geschichte
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Jede Zeile von mir bleibt in deinem Gedächtnis.
Every line of mine will stay in your memory.
Caption 34, Nina Chuba: Wildberry Lillet Remix feat. Juju
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Further Learning
You'll find these nouns and verbs in many examples on Yabla German.
In German, der Klang (the sound) and das Geräusch (the noise) are the words for individual sounds, while words such as der Krach or der Lärm describe general noise that people are bothered by.
Let's look at the words for certain types of sounds and noises in German. Because there are many words, today we'll only look at sounds that occur in nature, including animal sounds. Next week, we'll look at sounds produced by humans and machines. There is, of course, some overlap.
For example, humans and bees can both hum, and humans whistle too, of course.
Das Geräusch erinnert an das Summen einer Biene.
The sound is reminiscent of the buzz of a bee.
Caption 26, Deutsch mit Eylin: s, ß und ss
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Pfeifen, Zwitschern, Tirilieren
Whistling, chirping, trilling
Caption 4, Kinderlieder zum Mitsingen: Alle Vögel sind schon da
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Here are some examples with the common verbs quietschen, piepen, rascheln, and rauschen.
Während die einen mutig ihr Spielzeug aus dem Wasser retten, hoffen die anderen, dass die Bälle und Quietscheknochen durch ihr Bellen auf magische Art und Weise an den Rand zurückkommen.
While some bravely rescue their toys from the water, the others hope that the balls and squeaky bones will, through their barking, magically come back to the edge.
Captions 3-5, Rheinmain im Blick: Hundeschwimmen
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Mäuse kenne ich. Sie wohnen in Erdlöchern und piepen.
Mice I know. They live in burrows and squeak.
Caption 11, Piggeldy und Frederick: Katze
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Es raschelte manchmal außerhalb des Zeltes,und der Wind rauschte laut in den Bäumen.
Sometimes there was a rustle outside the tent, and the wind rustled loudly in the trees.
Captions 20-21, Deutsch mit Eylin: Urlaub im Präteritum
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You may have noticed that the nouns that refer to these sounds are mostly nominalized verbs. These are then neuter. Once you know the noun, it's not at all difficult to remember the related verb and adjective/adverb.
Rauschend und gurgelnd vereinigen sich viele kleine Rinnsale zu immer größeren Bächen.
Rushing and gurgling, many small brooks combine into increasingly larger streams.
Caption 7, Alpenseen Kühle: Schönheiten
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Die Mutter bat den Bären hinein und der legte sich vor das knisternde Feuer.
The mother asked the bear in and he lay down in front of the crackling fire.
Caption 17, Märchen: Sagenhaft Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot
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Further Learning
You can find more examples of these words on Yabla German, and also look up a few more, such as das Zirpen, das Plätschern, das Brutzeln, or das Knarren.