Ik herinner me de keer dat wij samen een boek lazen.

I remember the time we read a book together.

Breakdown of Ik herinner me de keer dat wij samen een boek lazen.

• ik: I
• het boek: the book
• wij: we
• lezen: to read
• dat: that
• samen: together
• een: a, an
• herinneren: to remember
• me: myself
• de keer: the time

Questions & Answers about Ik herinner me de keer dat wij samen een boek lazen.

Why does the sentence use me after Ik herinner?

In Dutch, the verb herinneren is reflexive and typically appears as zich herinneren: ik herinner me, jij herinnert je, hij herinnert zich, and so on. This means the action "to remember" is turned back onto oneself, hence the need for a reflexive pronoun.

What does de keer mean in this context?

De keer means "the time" in the sense of a specific occasion. Here, it refers to a particular moment or event that the speaker is recalling.

Why do we use dat here instead of another relative pronoun?

In Dutch, dat typically introduces relative clauses when referring to a "thing" rather than a person. Since de keer (the time) is not a person, we use dat. If we were referring to a person, for instance de man (the man), we could use die.

Why is the past tense of lezen used here as lazen?

Dutch irregular verbs have distinct past tense forms. Lezen becomes las in the singular and lazen in the plural. Since wij (we) is plural, lazen is the correct conjugation.

Is there a difference between using wij and we in this sentence?

Wij and we both mean "we" in Dutch. The difference is mostly about emphasis. Wij is more emphatic, used when you really want to stress "we" (as opposed to someone else), whereas we is the more neutral form.