# Macedonian: Remember



## cr00mz

Hello

I need some help with the word remember in Macedonian. I know of се сеќава and текнува, but I have also read about паметува. What is the difference between them?


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## iobyo

_Текне/текнува_ is when you recall something when it isn't "on the tip of your tongue"; you bring something back into your mind for the moment, especially so as to recount it.
— _Ми текна!_ ('It's come back to me!', 'it has occurred to me now')​ — _Ми текнува!_ ('It's coming back to me!')​ — _Не ти текнува ли?_ ('Is it not coming to mind?', 'can you not recall it?')​ 
_(Се) сети/(се) сеќава_ is non-specific, it simply means to recall from memory:
— _Се сетив!_ ('I've remembered!')​ — _Не се сеќаваш ли?_ ('Do you not remember?', 'can you not recall?')​ — _Се сеќаваш ли на вечерта кога првпат се запознавме?_ ('Do you remember the night we first met?')​ 
_Памети/паметува_ means to commit something to your memory, to never forget it.
— _Ќе ја паметам (неа) засекогаш_ ('I will remember her forever')​


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## Gnoj

1.
*Текне*/*текнува* means *to come up with* or *to be occurred to*.

2.
a. Се *сети* (definite) means *to recall *(instantly) something you have previously forgotten about and/or been reminded of.
b. Се *сеќава* (indefinite) means *to recall *(indefinitely).
So basically:
Штотуку се *сетив* = I just *recalled* = I just *remembered*
Како што се *сеќавам*... = As I *recall*... = As I *remember...*

3.
a. *Памети*/*помни *(indefinite) means *to have* something *memorized*, which basically makes it the same as *to recall* (indefinitely).
се сеќава = памети/помни
b. *Запамети*/*запомни* (definite) means *to memorize*. While the indefinite forms of памети/помни and се сеќава have the same meaning, that is not the case with their definite forms запамети/запомни and се сети.
се сети ≠ запамети/запомни


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## cr00mz

How would you say "I remember you" / "Do you remember me?"

"се сеќавам тебе" and "дали се сеќаваш мене"?


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## Gnoj

I remember you (sg.) = Се сеќавам на тебе.
I remember you (pl.) = Се сеќавам на вас.
I remember You (sg. & pl.) = Се сеќавам на Вас.
Do you (sg.) remember me? = Се сеќаваш ли на мене?
Do you (pl.) remember me? = Се сеќавате ли на мене?


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## cr00mz

Two more questions,

на тебе, на мене etc. can be shortened to ти, and ми yes?

So can you say ти се сеќавам = i remember you?

Also perhaps a dumb questions but why is it на мене and not just мене?


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## cr00mz

A third questions

I have also heard се сеќам, instead of се сеќавам does that have to do with standard vs non-standard?


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## Gnoj

cr00mz said:


> A third questions
> 
> I have also heard се сеќам, instead of се сеќавам does that have to do with standard vs non-standard?


Yeah, "сеќам" is non-standard.



cr00mz said:


> Two more questions,
> 
> на тебе, на мене etc. can be shortened to ти, and ми yes?
> 
> So can you say ти се сеќавам = i remember you?


No, but you can say "те паметам".



> Also perhaps a dumb questions but why is it на мене and not just мене?


"Се сеќава *на*" literally means to "recall *of*": Се сеќавам *на* тебе = I recall *of* you
It should probably be "за" (се сеќавам *за* тебе), but it isn't - probably an influence from Serbian language. So it's not the same "на" as in Ти зборувам *на* тебе = I'm talking *to* you, "на" can have a bunch of different roles.


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## iobyo

Gnoj said:


> "Се сеќава *на*" literally means to "recall *of*": Се сеќавам *на* тебе = I recall *of* you
> It should probably be "за" (се сеќавам *за* тебе), but it isn't - probably an influence from Serbian language. So it's not the same "на" as in Ти зборувам *на* тебе = I'm talking *to* you, "на" can have a bunch of different roles.



I doubt it has anything to do with Serbian influence. 

When we say "I remember you" we're sort of saying "I am reminding myself of you". _Се сеќавам_ therefore requires the genitive ("of you") which doesn't exist in Macedonian, so it's expressed periphrastically by _на_ + accusative: _се сеќавам на тебе/него/неа/нас/вас/нив_. With nouns, of course, there's no issue: _се сеќавам на човекот/жената/детето._


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## cr00mz

This genitive type of thing, is that something you learn, like some method. Or do you have to remember some by heart?

For example to resemble someone is личи на, does that also have something to do with genitive?


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## iobyo

cr00mz said:


> This genitive type of thing, is that something you learn, like some method. Or do you have to remember some by heart?



I used those terms in a diachronic sense because I'm not familiar with the correct grammatical terminology. Maybe someone else can help me out here.

I can't think of a method for figuring out what type of object they take, but it might be an idea to think of them as phrasal verbs:



_Се сеќава на _x (to 'remember _x_')
_Се сеќавам на тебе_ ('I remember you', lit. 'I remember myself of you')




_Се плаши од _x (to be 'afraid of _x_', 'scared of _x_')
_Се плашам од змии _('I am afraid of snakes')




_Се плаши за _x (to 'fear for _x_')
_Се плашам за својот живот_ ('I fear for my life')




_Што се однесува до _x ('as far as _x_ is concerned')
_Што се однесува до мене... _('as far as I am concerned...')
_Што се однесува до нив, нема друг избор _('as far as they are concerned, there is no other choice')




_Се занимава со _x(to be 'occupied with _x_', to be 'involved in _x_', to 'work in the field of _x_')
 


cr00mz said:


> For example to resemble someone is личи на, does that also have something to do with genitive?



In a diachronic sense, it would have been accusative (direct object). _Личи на _may also be thought of as a phrasal verb.


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## cr00mz

Thanks for explaining a bit. 

The four last ones are similar in Swedish, but the first one, the "remember" one is very different, from both English and Swedish. I know it's not very smart to compare languages like this, specially languages that are from different families.


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