In a classroom lesson, Daniela talks about the fact that the verb ricordare (to remember) takes the preposition di. In an episode of Stai lontana da me, there is a scene where the verb ricordare appears a number of times. Let’s take a closer look.

In the following example, Simona is using the verb ricordare reflexively: ricordarsi (to remember). But she is using it generally, in that there is no direct object at all. She’s just saying, “You don’t remember, do you?”

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È incredibile, sono passati trent'anni e sei identico.

It's incredible, thirty years have passed and you are the same.

-Identico a chi?

-The same as who?

-Sono Simona, non ti ricordi, eh?

-I'm Simona, you don't remember, do you?

Captions 17-19, Stai lontana da me - Rai Cinema

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But then, as they keep talking, we start hearing some direct object pronouns as well.

Ma figurati, ma io manco me la ricordo 'sta maledizione.

But are you kidding? But I don't even remember this curse.

Caption 29, Stai lontana da me - Rai Cinema

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Of course in English, we don’t normally include the direct object pronoun together with the direct object noun but this is very common in Italian. 

'Sta maledizione (this curse) is the actual direct object of the above example and the one below.

Ma come non te la ricordi?

But how can you not remember it?

-Ma non me la ricordo, era alle elementari, Jacopo.

-But I don't remember it, it was at elementary school, Jacopo.

-Eh!

-Yeah.

Caption 30, Stai lontana da me - Rai Cinema

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In the following example, just the indirect object pronoun (mi in this case) is used because what was remembered (the fact of being sweethearts) is then explained in a separate clause.

Eh, mi ricordo che eravamo fidanzatini, poi, non so, è successo qualcosa e...

Uh, I remember we were sweethearts and then something happened and...

Caption 31, Stai lontana da me - Rai Cinema

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So when we don’t need to be specific, mi ricordo or non mi ricordo (I remember/I don’t remember) will do.

When there is no direct pronoun, just an indirect pronoun, we can ask the question:

Ti ricordi?
Do you remember?

But when we specify what is being remembered, we either insert a direct object noun:

Ti ricordi quel viaggio...?
Do you remember that trip...?

Or a verbal phrase:

Ti ricordi di aver fatto quel viaggio nel settantanove?
Do you remember having made that trip in seventy-nine?

Attenzione! This is when we need di, as Daniela has explained in a video lesson! Ricordare is a verb that takes the preposition di when followed by a verb in the infinitive, whether or not it is reflexive.

We can also insert a direct object pronoun. Attenzione! This causes a shift. In this case, the indirect pronoun changes from an i ending to an e ending. The direct pronoun will be lo (it), la (it), li (them), or le (them): In this particular case the object is viaggio (trip), a masculine noun.

Te lo ricordi?
Do you remember it?
Me lo ricordo
I remember it.
Se lo ricordano.
They remember it.

You can practice forming sentences with only an indirect pronoun. Then add a direct object pronoun corresponding to a noun you are thinking of, and make the shift, as above.

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