vous vous souvenez

This is a reflexive form, i.e., Do you yourself (vous vous) remember/recall...I would also suggest that there is the implication, if it is an inquiry, of a certain fondness in the recollectionl, i.e., Do you have fond memories of .... Maybe I'm overreacting, but that would certainly be my usage. After all, the root is 'souvenir', literally to 'return', with modern usage making the recollection understood.

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on May 23, 2011 at 2:44pm

It's worth noting that you could be reading a little bit too much into this, though.

There's no necessity for "reflexive" forms to actually have a reflexive meaning: it's ONE possibility, and probably the easiest to teach and so the first that is generally taught and the one that sticks in students' heads. But so-called "reflexive" forms really have a variety of uses, and some reflexive verbs are reflexive "just because they are". So I would be cautious about your view.

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Permalink Reply by kent goldsmith on May 23, 2011 at 5:04pm

I am in complete agreement with your comments. My 'take' on this phrase is admittedly somewhat biased. I recently received an email from a friend in Paris with whom I had no contact for over five years. The email began " je ne sais pas si vous vous souvenez de moi" and I read into that an almost plaintive plea. Maybe I should'nt get to carried away with what is, after all, a fairly simple play. I stick to my guns, though, that "souvenir" is more powerful that 'remember'. "Rapeller" would surely meet the need for that thought.