Nhớ: Remember and Miss | Vietnamese Grammar

Vietnamese nhớ joins meanings that English divides between “remember” and “miss.” Nhớ địa chỉ can mean remember an address, nhớ gọi điện means remember to call, and nhớ nhà means miss home. The form of nhớ never conjugates; its complement, particles, aspect markers, and surrounding context identify which relation is intended.

The contrast is especially important because Tôi nhớ mẹ can mean “I miss Mom” or, in the right narrative, “I remember Mom.” This page maps those readings. Quên “forget/fail to do” is kept for its dedicated page.

A decision guide

Frame	Usual meaning	Typical clue
nhớ + fact/item	retain or retrieve information	nhớ mật khẩu
nhớ (là/rằng) + clause	remember that...	nhớ là cửa đã khóa
nhớ đã/từng + VP	remember having done/experienced	nhớ đã gặp cô ấy
nhớ + VP	remember to do something	nhớ mang ô
nhớ + person/place + quá	miss someone or somewhere	nhớ nhà quá
nhớ ra / nhớ lại	recall suddenly / call back to mind	bỗng nhớ ra; nhớ lại chuyện cũ

Retaining and retrieving information

With a noun denoting information, nhớ means retain it in memory or successfully recall it. Common objects include names, addresses, passwords, dates, faces, and instructions. Nhớ rõ adds clarity; nhớ chính xác emphasizes accuracy.

Tôi nhớ địa chỉ nhưng không nhớ số căn hộ.

I remember the address but not the apartment number.

Chị có nhớ tên người đã gọi sáng nay không?

Do you remember the name of the person who called this morning?

Tôi vẫn nhớ rõ ngày đầu tiên đến Hà Nội.

I still clearly remember my first day in Hanoi.

With propositional content, nhớ là + clause is frequent in speech, while nhớ rằng + clause is more careful or formal. A bare embedded clause is also possible when its boundary is obvious. If the remembered content is uncertain, speakers often add hình như “apparently/as I vaguely recall.”

Tôi nhớ là mình đã khóa cửa trước khi đi.

I remember that I locked the door before leaving.

Hãy nhớ rằng mọi thay đổi phải được phê duyệt bằng văn bản.

Remember that every change must be approved in writing. (formal)

Không nhớ reports failure to retrieve or absence of a memory. Chưa nhớ ra presents retrieval as not achieved yet and often suggests the answer may still come. That nuance makes Để tôi nghĩ một chút, tôi chưa nhớ ra more hopeful than a flat Tôi không nhớ.

Tôi nhận ra khuôn mặt ấy nhưng chưa nhớ ra tên.

I recognize that face, but I haven't recalled the name yet.

Remembering an event versus remembering to act

This is the most useful structural distinction for English speakers. Nhớ + VP normally works prospectively: keep the future or required action in mind and do not omit it. Nhớ là mình đã + VP or nhớ đã + VP looks backward and recalls a completed event.

Nhớ gửi hóa đơn cho tôi trước chiều thứ Sáu nhé.

Remember to send me the invoice before Friday afternoon.

Tôi nhớ đã gửi hóa đơn cho anh từ hôm qua.

I remember sending you the invoice yesterday.

The aspect marker đã belongs to the remembered event, not to a conjugated form of nhớ. For maximum clarity, the fuller Tôi nhớ là mình đã gửi... is common in conversation. When reminding someone politely, nhớ + VP + nhé is warm and ordinary among colleagues, friends, or family. In formal instructions, xin lưu ý or vui lòng may be more appropriate than a direct nhớ.

Con nhớ uống thuốc sau khi ăn nhé.

Remember to take your medicine after eating. (informal, caring)

Tôi nhớ là chúng ta từng gặp nhau ở một hội thảo tại Huế.

I remember that we once met at a conference in Hue.

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Read the material after nhớ for temporal orientation: bare nhớ + action is usually “remember to act”; nhớ (là) đã/từng + action explicitly recalls an earlier event.

Missing a person, place, or familiar experience

With an emotionally valued person, place, or experience, nhớ means feel their absence—English “miss.” The adverbs quá, lắm, and da diết strengthen the feeling. Da diết is literary or emotionally elevated; nhớ quá is everyday speech.

Đi công tác mới ba ngày mà tôi đã nhớ nhà quá.

I've only been away on business for three days, and I already miss home terribly.

Bà ngoại nhớ các cháu nên tối nào cũng gọi video.

Grandma misses the grandchildren, so she video-calls every evening.

Giữa thành phố đông đúc, anh bỗng nhớ da diết tiếng sóng quê nhà.

Amid the crowded city, he suddenly longed intensely for the sound of the waves back home. (literary)

Context usually disambiguates. Tôi nhớ mẹ quá can only naturally express missing Mom because quá measures present emotion. Tôi còn nhớ mẹ thường ngồi bên cửa sổ means “I still remember Mom often sitting by the window,” because còn, the following clause, and the narrative context frame a memory.

Tôi còn nhớ mẹ thường thức rất khuya để may áo cho chúng tôi.

I still remember Mom often staying up very late to sew clothes for us.

Vietnamese does not need an equivalent of English someone as the subject of “be missed.” Say Tôi nhớ các bạn “I miss you all,” not a passive translation of “You are missed by me.”

Nhớ ra, nhớ lại, and lexicalized combinations

Nhớ ra marks retrieval as a result: the missing piece comes to mind. It often occurs with bỗng, chợt, mới, or cuối cùng. Nhớ lại deliberately calls a past event or period back to mind. The two overlap, but ra foregrounds finding the memory, whereas lại foregrounds returning to it.

Vừa ra khỏi thang máy, tôi mới nhớ ra là mình để quên thẻ trên bàn.

Just after leaving the elevator, I remembered that I had left my card on the desk.

Mỗi lần nhớ lại chuyến đi ấy, chúng tôi đều bật cười.

Every time we recall that trip, we burst out laughing.

Ghi nhớ means commit to memory or keep firmly in mind and is common in instructions and formal prose. Nhớ như in is an idiom meaning remember as if imprinted—remember vividly. Đáng nhớ means memorable.

Tôi nhớ như in vẻ mặt của bố khi nghe tin.

I remember Dad's expression vividly when he heard the news.

Người lao động cần ghi nhớ các quy tắc an toàn sau đây.

Workers need to keep the following safety rules firmly in mind. (formal)

Aspect and degree

Plain nhớ often describes a current state. Đã nhớ ra marks successful retrieval; nhớ rồi announces “I remember now” or acknowledges a reminder. Vẫn nhớ expresses persistence, and còn nhớ asks or states that a memory remains available. Đang nhớ can describe the current emotion of missing someone, but speakers more often simply say nhớ...quá/lắm. For memory loss in progress, đang dần quên is clearer than forcing a progressive onto nhớ.

A five-way reference set

Function	Vietnamese	Interpretation
affirmative	Tôi nhớ số điện thoại của chị ấy.	I remember her phone number.
negative	Tôi không nhớ mình để chìa khóa ở đâu.	I don't remember where I put the keys.
question	Anh còn nhớ quán cà phê đó không?	Do you still remember that café?
aspect-marked	Tôi vừa mới nhớ ra mật khẩu.	I've just remembered the password.
idiomatic collocation	Tôi nhớ như in cảnh hôm ấy.	I remember that scene vividly.

One verb, three temporal directions

— Cậu nhớ chị Mai không? — Nhớ chứ, tớ nhớ như in lần đầu gặp chị ấy. Chị ấy chuyển đi rồi nên mọi người nhớ chị ấy lắm. À, nhớ gửi ảnh cho chị ấy nhé!

— Do you remember Mai? — Of course; I vividly remember the first time I met her. She has moved away, so everyone misses her a lot. Oh, remember to send her the photos!

The first two uses look backward into memory. Mọi người nhớ chị ấy describes a present feeling of absence. The final nhớ gửi looks forward to an action that must not be omitted. The wording after nhớ, not a different conjugation, directs the interpretation.

Common Mistakes

1. Omitting đã when “remember doing” must be distinguished from “remember to do.”

❌ Tôi nhớ gửi email hôm qua.

Ambiguous—it can mean that I remembered to carry out the sending yesterday, rather than that I now recall a completed event.

✅ Tôi nhớ là mình đã gửi email hôm qua.

I remember sending the email yesterday.

2. Translating English “remind” with transitive nhớ. The causative verb is normally nhắc or nhắc...nhớ.

❌ Bạn nhớ tôi gọi bác sĩ nhé.

Incorrect for ‘Remind me to call the doctor’—the participant roles are unclear.

✅ Bạn nhắc tôi gọi bác sĩ nhé.

Remind me to call the doctor, please.

3. Adding an English-style preposition before the thing missed. Vietnamese takes the person or place directly.

❌ Tôi nhớ về gia đình quá.

Wrong for the immediate feeling ‘I miss my family so much’—về makes the family a topic of reflection.

✅ Tôi nhớ gia đình quá.

I miss my family so much.

4. Using nhớ for every failure of recall. Chưa nhớ ra describes an unsuccessful retrieval attempt; quên can mean the information is forgotten or an action was omitted.

❌ Tôi nhớ không tên anh ấy.

Incorrect word order and negation.

✅ Tôi chưa nhớ ra tên anh ấy.

I haven't managed to recall his name yet.

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Do not ask which tense of nhớ means “remembered.” Ask which construction you need: nhớ đã... for a past event, đã nhớ ra for successful retrieval, nhớ + VP for a future obligation, or nhớ + person/place for emotional absence.

Key Takeaways

Nhớ + information means remember; nhớ + valued person/place often means miss.
Nhớ + VP tells someone to remember to act, while nhớ (là) đã/từng + VP recalls an earlier event.
Nhớ ra is successful retrieval; nhớ lại deliberately revisits a memory.
Use nhắc for “remind someone,” not a copied transitive construction with nhớ.
Degree words and discourse context usually resolve whether nhớ means remember or miss.

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