Is "if I good remember" sentence correct?

[wojtek_himself]

Hello,
From time to time I can hear this sentence: "If I good remember...". I find it incorrect, I use "If I remember well.." in such situation.
Could you tell me please if my intuition in this matter is right? Is "If I good remember..." sentence used by native speakers?
Regards
Wojtek

 

[5jj]

Is "If I good remember..." sentence used by native speakers?

No. We say, "If I remember correctly" or "If my memory serves me (right/correctly)".

 

[BobK]

:up: Also, people of a certain age say 'If I remember aright' [sic - one of the many 'a-' words that have passed on, leaving only a few stragglers like away and ajar.

I think that, in Br English, the word 'well' in the context of memory is more commonly used as a reinforcer of accuracy: 'I well remember the time in the sixties when I first heard the song If Your Memory Serves You Well and thought "That's a funny use of 'well' - I suppose it's American".

b

 

[5jj]

:up: Also, people of a certain age say 'If I remember aright'

I do. I refrained from mentioning it lest a certain moderator (who shall remain nameless; just think Star Wars) remind me once again of my advancing years. She'll probably come in anyway to pick up my 'lest' and subjunctive 'remember'.

 

[emsr2d2]

Are you sure you're not hearing "If I could ​remember ..."?

I say "If I remember rightly ..." - the phrase used by members of both sides of my family and so the one I grew up hearing.



You're OK, 5jj - I entirely approve of the use of "lest" and frequently use it myself. Your advancing years (your words, not mine) only serve to add to your wisdom. :-D

 

[wojtek_himself]

5jj & BobK,
Thank you for your tips, I appreciate it.
One more question: I changed my original sentence "If I remember well" to "if I well remember". Would you consider this sentence as proper?

 

[5jj]

Neither of them is natural.

 

[wojtek_himself]

Are you sure you're not hearing "If I could ​remember ..."?

I'm sure, I heard it many times from non-native speakers.

5jj - Your advancing years (your words, not mine) only serve to add to your wisdom. :-D

Thanks for writing this, I wanted to write similar thing but my English is not good enough....

Coming back to "if I good remember" : is it at least understandable to be communicative for native speakers?

 

[emsr2d2]

5jj & BobK,
Thank you for your tips, I appreciate it.
One more question: I changed my original sentence "If I remember well" to "if I well remember". Would you consider this sentence as proper?

We use "well" with "remember" in statements.

Do you remember that little hotel we used to stay at on Corsica?
Ah, I remember it well.

Do you remember the first car I bought?
I don't remember it well - I vaguely recall that it was green.

 

[SoothingDave]

"If I recall correctly" or "If I remember correctly" is so common that "IIRC" is understood as an abbreviation in "chat" speak.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'm sure, I heard it many times from non-native speakers.



Thanks for writing this, I wanted to write similar thing but my English is not good enough....

Coming back to "if I good remember" : is it at least understandable to be communicative for native speakers?

If you said "If I good remember" to me, I would assume that I had misheard and that you meant to say "If I could remember". If you said "If I remember good ..." I would understand perfectly but I would know you were a non-native speaker.

I would avoid "If I good remember" if I were you. Forget it!

 

[wojtek_himself]

"If I recall correctly" or "If I remember correctly" is so common that "IIRC" is understood as an abbreviation in "chat" speak.

good example. I asked because the target in polish education is to be communicative and not necessarly correct. So be prepare to hear the sentences like "if I good remember" more often (don't blame me, I'm not an English teacher)

 

[wojtek_himself]

If you said "If I good remember" to me, I would assume that I had misheard and that you meant to say "If I could remember". If you said "If I remember good ..." I would understand perfectly but I would know you were a non-native speaker.

I would avoid "If I good remember" if I were you. Forget it!

thanks for this, now I know how you feel when you hear the sentence from the topic

 

[emsr2d2]

Thanks for this, now I know how you feel when you hear the sentence from the topic.

Good example. I asked because the target in Polish education is to be communicative and not necessarily correct. So be prepared to hear [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] sentences like "if I good remember" more often (don't blame me, I'm not an English teacher).

Please see the amendments I have made to your last two posts, shown above in red. Remember that you must start every new sentence with a capital letter and end every sentence with a single appropriate punctuation mark.

We may well hear "I good remember" more often. We will continue to be puzzled by it and then correct it when we realise what the person is trying to say.

 

[5jj]

I asked because the target in [STRIKE]p[/STRIKE]Polish education is to be communicative and not necessarily correct. So be prepared to hear the sentences like "if I good remember" more often

The problem with that particular example is that incorrect English impedes communication.

 

[wojtek_himself]

Please see the amendments I have made to your last two posts, shown above in red. Remember that you must start every new sentence with a capital letter and end every sentence with a single appropriate punctuation mark.

OK guys, you proved that you are teachers, no doubts

 

[bhaisahab]

OK guys, you proved that you are teachers, no doubts

Were you testing us?

 

[wojtek_himself]

Were you testing us?

Not at all, I wrote it instead of writing "sorry for my errors". Now I have to write: sorry that it was not funny :-(. But at least I tried.
In general I'm profoundly grateful for learning how to use correctly "if I remember correctly" sentence and avoid "Polish English" language.

 

[BobK]

I don't recommend the Shakespearean 'An I mistake me not'. (Still less the IRC version AIMMN. )

b

 

[nyota]

wojtek_himself, you're right, the education system has changed in that respect. I remember when I had English at school it was mostly about grammar, writing and being correct. Result? Students wouldn't speak for fear of making a mistake or by the time they had come up with a decent sentence the audience were snoring.

That's why I think these days they're putting more stress on actually having people talk and focus on being communicative. The sad thing is, that some take being communicative as the ultimate goal. To me, it's a start.