Conjugation of recordar-se | Catalan Grammar

Recordar-se de means “to remember”: em recordo de la clau, “I remember the key.” Its conjugated verb is the regular -ar verb recordar, but every finite form also carries a reflexive-series weak pronoun, and its remembered content is introduced by de. When that de-complement is already understood, the pronoun en replaces it: me'n recordo. English marks neither dependency, so the real challenge is coordinating the verb, the person-changing reflexive clitic, and the complement.

The construction is neutral in contemporary Catalan. Unlabelled forms below are standard and usable in ordinary speech and writing. The nonpronominal verb has a different frame: recordo la clau takes a direct object, with no de. Compare the full reference for recordar.

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Learn one three-part pattern, not an isolated verb: reflexive clitic + recordar + de-complement. If the complement disappears, its de does not simply vanish: en normally represents the whole complement—Et recordes del codi? Sí, me'n recordo.

Principal parts and nonfinite forms

The lexical stem never alternates: record-. There is no Spanish-style o → ue change and no incoative -eix- extension.

Form	With the citation clitic	Perfect form
Infinitive	recordar-se	haver-se recordat
Gerund	recordant-se	havent-se recordat
Participle	recordat	—

The reflexive clitic follows an infinitive or gerund: recordar-me'n, recordant-se'n. In a compound finite tense it precedes haver: m'he recordat, ens havíem recordat. The participle is invariable in those compounds, regardless of the subject: elles s'han recordat de tot.

Indicative: simple and periphrastic tenses

Tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	em recordo	et recordes	es recorda	ens recordem	us recordeu	es recorden
Imperfect	em recordava	et recordaves	es recordava	ens recordàvem	us recordàveu	es recordaven
Periphrastic past	em vaig recordar	et vas recordar	es va recordar	ens vam recordar	us vau recordar	es van recordar
Simple past	em recordí	et recordares	es recordà	ens recordàrem	us recordàreu	es recordaren
Future	em recordaré	et recordaràs	es recordarà	ens recordarem	us recordareu	es recordaran
Conditional	em recordaria	et recordaries	es recordaria	ens recordaríem	us recordaríeu	es recordarien

The periphrastic past is the normal narrative past: em vaig recordar. Moving the clitic to the infinitive—vaig recordar-me—is also standard, although placing it before the auxiliary is especially common. The simple past forms are chiefly (formal/literary) and remain conversational in some Balearic and Valencian varieties (regional).

Ara em recordo de la contrasenya: acabava en dos zeros.

Now I remember the password: it ended in two zeroes.

De petita, l'Elna es recordava de totes les matrícules que veia.

As a child, Elna remembered every license plate she saw.

En sentir aquella melodia, ens vam recordar del viatge a Menorca.

On hearing that melody, we remembered the trip to Menorca.

Demà us recordareu de mi quan proveu de muntar l'armari sols.

Tomorrow you'll remember me when you try to assemble the wardrobe yourselves.

Indicative: compound tenses

Tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present perfect	m'he recordat	t'has recordat	s'ha recordat	ens hem recordat	us heu recordat	s'han recordat
Pluperfect	m'havia recordat	t'havies recordat	s'havia recordat	ens havíem recordat	us havíeu recordat	s'havien recordat
Past anterior	m'haguí recordat	t'hagueres recordat	s'hagué recordat	ens haguérem recordat	us haguéreu recordat	s'hagueren recordat
Future perfect	m'hauré recordat	t'hauràs recordat	s'haurà recordat	ens haurem recordat	us haureu recordat	s'hauran recordat
Conditional perfect	m'hauria recordat	t'hauries recordat	s'hauria recordat	ens hauríem recordat	us hauríeu recordat	s'haurien recordat

The synthetic past anterior is (formal/literary). Its periphrastic counterpart is em vaig haver recordat, et vas haver recordat...; everyday speech usually chooses the pluperfect. When en is also present, it sits inside the same preverbal cluster: me n'he recordat, se n'havien recordat.

Per sort, me n'he recordat abans de sortir de casa.

Luckily, I remembered it before leaving home.

Quan va arribar el tècnic, ja ens havíem recordat d'on era la clau de pas.

When the technician arrived, we had already remembered where the shutoff valve was.

Subjunctive: simple and compound forms

Tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	em recordi	et recordis	es recordi	ens recordem	us recordeu	es recordin
Imperfect	em recordés	et recordessis	es recordés	ens recordéssim	us recordéssiu	es recordessin
Present perfect	m'hagi recordat	t'hagis recordat	s'hagi recordat	ens hàgim recordat	us hàgiu recordat	s'hagin recordat
Pluperfect	m'hagués recordat	t'haguessis recordat	s'hagués recordat	ens haguéssim recordat	us haguéssiu recordat	s'haguessin recordat

The standard periphrastic subjunctive past is em vagi recordar, et vagis recordar, es vagi recordar, ens vàgim recordar, us vàgiu recordar, es vagin recordar; the anterior inserts haver before the participle. (Regional: Valencian) the present subjunctive may use em recorde, et recordes, es recorde..., and the imperfect commonly uses recordara, recordares....

Dubto que se'n recordin quan arribi el moment de tornar les claus.

I doubt they'll remember it when the time comes to return the keys.

Si t'haguessis recordat de reservar taula, ara no esperaríem al carrer.

If you had remembered to book a table, we wouldn't be waiting outside now.

Imperative and weak-pronoun placement

Addressee	Affirmative	Negative
tu	recorda't	no et recordis
vostè	recordi's	no es recordi
nosaltres	recordem-nos	no ens recordem
vosaltres	recordeu-vos	no us recordeu
vostès	recordin-se	no es recordin

Affirmative commands attach their clitics with hyphens and apostrophes; negative commands place them before the verb. With en, compare recorda-te'n and no te'n recordis. The polite forms recordi's and recordin-se are (formal) only insofar as vostè/vostès is the chosen form of address; the verb form itself is ordinary standard Catalan.

Recorda-te'n quan passis per la ferreteria: ens falten cargols curts.

Remember it when you go by the hardware store: we're short of small screws.

No us recordeu només dels errors; també heu fet molt bona feina.

Don't remember only the mistakes; you've also done very good work.

The complement: de, en, and a finite clause

A noun phrase or infinitive follows de: recordar-se de la reunió; recordar-se de telefonar. This second pattern usually refers to remembering a task that still needs doing. By contrast, recordar haver telefonat presents the call as an earlier event retained in memory.

Em recordo d'haver deixat el rebut dins la carpeta blava.

I remember having left the receipt in the blue folder.

Recorda't d'enviar el rebut abans de divendres.

Remember to send the receipt before Friday.

Before a finite clause introduced by que, careful standard usage drops the preposition: Em recordo que la porta era verda, not de que. If the complement must retain an explicit nominal frame, use del fet que. See prepositions before que.

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De and en cannot represent the same complement at the same time. Say em recordo del número or me'n recordo, never me'n recordo del número in the same syntactic reading.

Common Mistakes

❌ Em recordo l'adreça, però no el pis.

Incorrect—this mixes pronominal recordar-se with a direct object.

✅ Em recordo de l'adreça, però no del pis.

I remember the address, but not the apartment number.

❌ Me'n recordo del nom de la botiga.

Incorrect in the intended reading—en already replaces del nom de la botiga, so the complement is duplicated.

✅ Me'n recordo perfectament.

I remember it perfectly.

❌ Es recuerden de nosaltres cada Nadal.

Incorrect—Catalan recordar has no Spanish-style ue stem.

✅ Es recorden de nosaltres cada Nadal.

They remember us every Christmas.

❌ No recorda de trucar a l'asseguradora.

Incorrect—the pronominal construction requires its reflexive clitic.

✅ No es recorda de trucar a l'asseguradora.

He doesn't remember to call the insurance company.

❌ Em recordo de que el magatzem tancava aviat.

Incorrect in careful standard Catalan—drop de before finite que or use del fet que.

✅ Em recordo que el magatzem tancava aviat.

I remember that the warehouse used to close early.

Key Takeaways

Recordar-se is regular in its verb endings but obligatorily pronominal in this construction. Keep the person-matched clitic, introduce nominal and infinitival content with de, replace an understood de-complement with en, and place the clitic before an ordinary finite verb or after an infinitive, gerund, or affirmative imperative. The family of principal parts is small—recordo, recordi, recordaré, recordat—so most errors come from syntax, not morphology.

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