To remember someone

Question

I was how to rephrase "Je me souviens de votre frere" and I answered "Je me rappelle de votre frere". This was scored as incorrect, with the correct response given as "Je me rappelle votre frere". Aren't both "se rappeler de" and "se rappeler" correct?

Accepted Answer

Hi Claude,
I have checked and both rappelle with or without the ‘de’ should be accepted, so could please use the Report It button your correction board as there may be a glitch somewhere.

Answer

Hi Claude,It can be quite tricky.https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/how-to-express-reminding-rappeler-aI think you need to employ rappeler (qqn) à (qqn) so "Je me rappelle votre frere" would follow this format. The sense being "I remember (recall) your brother to myself" The direct object is "votre frere" and the indirect object is "me".This is how I see it  --  hope it helps.Jim

Answer

The preferred form for "rappeler", as Jim mentioned, is without "de". Using "de" makes it sound more colloquial.

Answer

As Jim notes, this is a complicated subject and “common usage” abounds.

Se rappeler is correct according to Larousse, Robert and the Académie, and none of these list “se rappeler de” as being correct, except maybe when followed by a pronoun or in ne pas de constructs etc etc

In fact, the Académie specifically notes that “se rappeler de” is incorrect, but it is clearly commonly used enough for it to include a specific “dire/ne dire pas” note about it (these notes frequently indicate common errors/usage by native speakers). https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/DNP0225

As the lesson here explicitly contradicts the Académie, and states that ‘se rappeler de’ is colloquially acceptable without qualification (and there are more than mentioned), its use shouldn’t be marked incorrect. Unless there was another error, both forms should be accepted.

No wonder, I think I hear more use of se souvenir de…