The difference between 思い出す and 覚える
The difference between 思い出す and 覚える depends on if the information being remembered was forgotten or not.
Basically, 思い出す means to recall something from the past or something that was forgotten. On the other hand, 覚える means to keep something in one’s mind without forgetting. Let’s take a closer look.
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The difference between 思い出す and 覚える
These two verbs are actually very different in Japanese. The first one, 思い出す can be translated from Japanese to English as something like recall, be reminded of, or even to come to mind.
https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/The second one, 覚える has various different ways to translate it. It can mean keeping something in mind or even learning something.
Example Sentences
You can see how these two words are different from the example sentences below:
お母さんの誕生日を思い出した
I (just) remembered my mom’s birthday
お母さんの誕生日を覚えている
I remember my mom’s birthday
The first sentence means that you had forgotten about mom’s birthday but just remembered. In the second sentence though it just means that you know and never have forgotten mom’s birthday. Let’s take a look at these sentences again but in the negative form.
お母さんの誕生日を思い出せない
I can’t remember my mom’s birthday
お母さんの誕生日を覚えていない
I don’t remember my mom’s birthday
Again, the first sentence means that you are trying to remember the birthday but can’t. However, in the second sentence, it just means that you just don’t remember.
To be reminded of with 思い出す
There are situations though that only 思い出す is correct. If you want to say that you are reminded of something, you can use 思い出す but not 覚える.
この曲を聞くとお母さんを思い出す
When I hear this song it reminds me of my mom
✖この曲を聞くとお母さんを覚える
When I listen to this song I remember my mom?
Learning with 覚える
Finally, 覚える also can mean you learn something. However, in this situation using 思い出す would not make sense.
音楽を聞くだけで単語を覚えられるよ
You can learn words just from listening to music
✖音楽を聞くだけで単語を思い出すよ
You can recall words just by listening to music
So now you know the difference between 思い出す and 覚える. If you want to learn more Japanese I reviewed a dictionary of grammar series which I personally recommend and use myself.
I also have several other posts on various topics on Japanese Universe if you are interested.
✖音楽を聞くだけで単語を思い出すよ
You can recall words just by listening to music
I wonder about this one. When you listen to a song for the first time in a long time, the tune itself does bring the words back to you. You knew the words long ago, then forgot about them, and then recall them due to hearing the music.
Hello Stacey!
Sure in that sense this would be fine. If you are referring to the actual words of the song though, 歌詞 would be better than 単語 though since we would be talking about remember the words of the song instead of studying vocabulary.
If you have any more questions just let me know!
Thanks