se souvenir Examples, Sentences & Quiz in French

se souvenir — remember — is one of the verbs you will use every day in French. se souvenir is the verb for talking about memories: it comes up whenever you talk about remembering childhood or recalling a name. On this page you will find se souvenir in real sentences, grouped by meaning and tense, two short texts that show it in context, the mistakes learners actually make with it, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself.

Example sentences with se souvenir

In the present tense

  • “Je me souviens de mon enfance.” — “I remember of my childhood.”
  • “Tu te souviens de ce jour.” — “You remember of that day.”
  • “Il se souvient de son nom.” — “He remembers of his name.”
  • “Nous nous souvenons de tout.” — “We remember of everything.”
  • “Vous vous souvenez de mon enfance.” — “You remember of my childhood.”
  • “Ils se souviennent de ce jour.” — “They remember of that day.”

In the passé composé

  • “Je me suis souvenu de mon enfance cette semaine.” — “I have remembered of my childhood this week.”
  • “Tu te es souvenu de ce jour cette semaine.” — “You have remembered of that day this week.”
  • “Il se est souvenu de son nom cette semaine.” — “He has remembered of his name this week.”
  • “Nous nous sommes souvenu de tout cette semaine.” — “We have remembered of everything this week.”
  • “Vous vous êtes souvenu de mon enfance cette semaine.” — “You have remembered of my childhood this week.”
  • “Ils se sont souvenu de ce jour cette semaine.” — “They have remembered of that day this week.”

In other tenses

The same verb in the imperfect, the future, the conditional and the present subjunctive — the four tenses that complete the picture. All forms come from the verified tables.

  • “Je me souvenais de mon enfance avant.” — “I used to remember of my childhood before.”
  • “Je me souviendrai de ce jour demain.” — “I will remember of that day tomorrow.”
  • “Je me souviendrais de son nom un jour.” — “I would remember of his name one day.”
  • “Bien que il se souvienne de tout” — “Although he remembers of everything.”

se souvenir in context

Je me souviens de mon enfance. Tu te souviens de ce jour. Il se souvient de son nom. Nous nous souvenons de tout.

I remember of my childhood. You remember of that day. He remembers of his name. We remember of everything.

Je me suis souvenu de mon enfance. Il se est souvenu de ce jour. Nous nous sommes souvenu de son nom.

I have remembered of my childhood this week. He has remembered of that day this week. We have remembered of his name this week.

Common mistakes with se souvenir

Mistake 1

Wrong: Je se souvenir de mon enfance.

Right: Je souviens de mon enfance.

The infinitive never takes a subject: after je you need the conjugated form souviens.

Mistake 2

Wrong: Je souvenons de ce jour.

Right: Je souviens de ce jour.

souvenons is the nous form. With je, use souviens.

Mistake 3

Wrong: Hier, je souviens de son nom.

Right: Hier, j'suis souvenu de son nom.

Yesterday needs the passé composé suis souvenu, not the present.

Mistake 4

Wrong: Bien que je souviens de tout.

Right: Bien que je souvienne de tout.

After bien que French needs the subjunctive souvienne.

Mistake 5

Wrong: Je souvenais de mon enfance hier. (said of one finished moment)

Right: J'suis souvenu de mon enfance hier.

The imperfect describes an ongoing or repeated past. One finished moment yesterday takes the passé composé.

Quiz: test yourself on se souvenir

Ten questions on se souvenir. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. What is the tu form of se souvenir in the Present indicative?

    • A) souviens
    • B) souviennent
    • C) souvenez
    • D) souvient

  2. What is the nous form of se souvenir in the Present indicative?

    • A) souvenons
    • B) souviens
    • C) souviennent
    • D) souvient

  3. What is the il/elle form of se souvenir in the Present perfect?

    • A) êtes souvenu
    • B) est souvenu
    • C) suis souvenu
    • D) sont souvenu

  4. What is the je form of se souvenir in the Imperfect?

    • A) souvenions
    • B) souveniez
    • C) souvenais
    • D) souvenaient

  5. What is the nous form of se souvenir in the Future?

    • A) souviendrez
    • B) souviendra
    • C) souviendront
    • D) souviendrons

  6. What is the tu form of se souvenir in the Conditional?

    • A) souviendraient
    • B) souviendrais
    • C) souviendrait
    • D) souviendrions

  7. What is the je form of se souvenir in the Present subjunctive?

    • A) souveniez
    • B) souviennes
    • C) souvienne
    • D) souvenions

  8. What is the il/elle form of se souvenir in the Imperfect subjunctive?

    • A) souvinssiez
    • B) souvînt
    • C) souvinsse
    • D) souvinssent

  9. What is the gerund of se souvenir?

    • A) dormant
    • B) buvant
    • C) souvenant

  10. What is the past participle of se souvenir?

  • A) bu
  • B) souvenu
  • C) dormi

Answer key

  1. A) souviens — The tu form of se souvenir in the present indicative is souviens.
  2. A) souvenons — The nous form of se souvenir in the present indicative is souvenons.
  3. B) est souvenu — The il/elle form of se souvenir in the present perfect is est souvenu.
  4. C) souvenais — The je form of se souvenir in the imperfect is souvenais.
  5. D) souviendrons — The nous form of se souvenir in the future is souviendrons.
  6. B) souviendrais — The tu form of se souvenir in the conditional is souviendrais.
  7. C) souvienne — The je form of se souvenir in the present subjunctive is souvienne.
  8. B) souvînt — The il/elle form of se souvenir in the imperfect subjunctive is souvînt.
  9. C) souvenant — The gerund of se souvenir is en souvenant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
  10. B) souvenu — The past participle of se souvenir is souvenu; perfect tenses use être + souvenu.

Frequently asked questions

What does se souvenir mean in English?

se souvenir means “remember”. You use it for talking about memories, for remembering childhood, and for recalling a name.

Is se souvenir regular or irregular?

se souvenir is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is en souvenant and the past participle is souvenu.

How do I say “I remember” in French?

Say “Je me souviens de mon enfance.” — “I remember of my childhood.” The je form of the present is souviens.

Where can I see the full conjugation of se souvenir?

On the full conjugation page, which has every tense, and on the Se souvenir Passé Composé Tense in French page.

How to practise se souvenir this week

Pick one tense a day and say five sentences with se souvenir out loud, using the examples on this page as your starting point. On the first day, use only the present tense and the complements from the examples above — de mon enfance, de ce jour and de son nom — and change only the person, so you hear how souviens, souviens and souvient sound next to each other. On the second day, retell yesterday in the passé composé with suis souvenu and the other perfect forms from the table. On the third day, write three short plans for tomorrow in the future tense, and on the fourth day, turn them into polite conditional sentences. Keep a small notebook and write each new sentence down: seeing en souvenant and souvenu in your own handwriting fixes them in memory far better than reading them once. Finally, take the quiz above again without looking at the answer key — when you can answer all ten questions from memory, move on to the next verb in the hub.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for se souvenir, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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