Remind, Remember & Regret in English

Using remind in English

Things and people remind us of things, times, and memories. The smell of a certain food can remind you of your grandma’s cooking, or every time you see your boss, it reminds you of how much you hate your job.

Not: “the sight of your boss remembers you about how much you hate your job” – this is incorrect in English. We use remind, not remember, in this structure.

Think about the following and see if you can think of one thing that reminds you of…

• The smell of X reminds me of…
• When I see X, it reminds me of…
• The song X reminds me of…
• The taste of X reminds me of…
• The touch of X reminds me of…

Note: in English we can’t “feel smells”. The senses are both nouns and verbs, so we can say: “Can you smell that awful smell in here?”

Remember for past memories

Remember is often used to recall past memories, and when we use it in this way we normally follow it with an -ing verb: “I remember walking to school when I was young.” Hopefully you remember me saying that earlier!

We can also use the phrase I remember when... to introduce a memory. For example: “I remember when I used to walk to school when I was young” is the same as “I remember walking to school when I was young.”

Can you think of any memories connected to the following…?

• A person you met
• An embarrassing situation you had
• A present you received
• A time when you had to use English

Useful patterns:

• I remember + -ing – “I remember going there with my friends.”
• I remember when + past sentence – “I remember when I started this job.”
• I remembered what I was going to say – when you forget something during a conversation and then remember it later.
• I’ve just remembered I have to... – when you want to excuse yourself from a conversation or meeting.
• Don’t forget to remember to… – to make sure someone doesn’t forget to do something.

Talking about regret in English

Sometimes we’d love to erase a memory from our head because we did something stupid or embarrassing. This feeling is called regret. They say you should never have regrets, but at the time we usually do. Only after some time do we look back and laugh about it.

In English we can express regret with these common patterns:

• I wish I hadn’t + past participle – I did it, and I regret it.
  “I wish I hadn’t eaten so much.”
• I wish I had + past participle – I didn’t do it, and I regret that.
  “I wish I had studied harder.”
• I should have + past participle – I didn’t do it, but it was a good idea.
  “I should have called her.”
• I shouldn’t have + past participle – I did it, but it was a bad idea.
  “I shouldn’t have said that.”
• I regret + -ing – I did it, and now I feel bad.
  “I regret shouting at him.”
• I regret not + -ing – I didn’t do it, and now I feel bad.
  “I regret not taking that job.”

Think about what the person in each situation might say:

1. A young woman went to a party just to speak to a guy, but she didn’t.
   “I wish I had talked to him.” / “I regret not talking to him.”
2. A young woman on a diet goes to McDonald’s, overeats and feels sick.
   “I shouldn’t have eaten so much.” / “I wish I hadn’t gone there.”
3. A man slept with his wife’s sister who is 10 years younger than him.
   “I wish I hadn’t done that.” / “I deeply regret doing that.”

Useful time expressions in English

How often do you use yesterday, tomorrow, next week, or just say the name of the day when talking about your plans or something you did? Probably quite a lot. It’s easy and clear.

But we also have a set of expressions in English we can use to add variety when we talk about when we did, have done, or are going to do something.

Usually after each expression we prefer a certain tense. Below you’ll find some common time expressions you can start using when you talk about the past, present, and future.

Time expressions for the past

• The day before last / the day before yesterday – past simple
  “The day before last I went to the zoo.”
• This time last year – past simple / past continuous
  “This time last year I was sitting on a beach in Spain.”
• A few days ago (3–4 days) – past simple
  “A few days ago I saw your mum in town.”
• Just the other day (2–3 days) – past simple
  “Just the other day I was in Forum Lviv.”
• The <day> that’s just gone / the <day> just gone (the most recent <day>) – past simple
  “The Sunday just gone I went to the cinema.”

Time expressions for the present

• Nowadays – present simple
  “Nowadays I don’t go to the gym.”
• These days – present simple
  “These days I like to go to the cinema twice a week.”
• Currently – present simple / present continuous
  “I’m currently volunteering at the local charity.”
• For the time being (temporary situation) – present continuous
  “For the time being I’m staying in a hotel while I look for a flat.”
• Over the last few days* – present perfect / present perfect continuous
  “Over the last few days I’ve eaten out three times in town.”
• Since* – present perfect / present perfect continuous
  “Since Monday I’ve been reading an interesting book.”

* These actions started in the past and continue into the present.

Time expressions for the future

In the examples below, be going to is used because it is often the most natural choice in spoken English.

• The day after next / the week after next – be going to
  “The day after next I’m going on holiday for two weeks.”
• From <day> / from next week / from next month – present simple or be going to
  “From next month I’m going to join a gym.”
• This coming <day> – be going to
  “This coming Thursday I’m going to the dentist.”
• In 2 days / in 1 week / in 3 months / in 1 year – be going to
  “In two weeks I’m going on holiday.”
• This time next year (prediction) – will
  “This time next year I’ll probably still be writing these types of posts.”
• One day (an unlikely or distant future plan) – will
  “One day I’ll go to Japan.”