思い出します（おもいだします、omoidashimasu）
- to recall

The Japanese verb 思い出します, read as おもいだします, means "to remember," "to recall," or "to think of." It implies bringing a memory or a thought back to your mind. It can refer to remembering something that happened in the past or recalling a piece of information. The word indicates an active process of retrieving a memory, unlike simply "knowing" something.

⚫︎子供の頃の夏休みを思い出します。 Translation: I remember my summer vacations from when I was a child. ⚫︎彼の名前を思い出せません。 Translation: I can't remember his name. ⚫︎旅行の写真を見て、楽しかった日々を思い出しました。 Translation: Looking at the travel photos, I remembered the enjoyable days.

⚫︎思い出します is used when you are actively trying to bring a memory or piece of information to mind. ⚫︎It's often used when talking about past experiences, specific events, or information you once knew but have forgotten. ⚫︎It can be used in both formal and informal situations, though the specific conjugation will vary depending on the level of politeness. For example, 思い出します is the polite form. ⚫︎You'll often hear it in conversations when someone is reminiscing or trying to retrieve a forgotten detail. ⚫︎When 思い出す is used as a verb stem, you can create a variety of different tenses and grammatical structures such as, 思い出しました (I remembered), 思い出そうとする(to try to remember), or 思い出したい (I want to remember).

⚫︎The verb is typically written with the kanji 思い (meaning "thought," "idea," "memory") and the hiragana 出します. ⚫︎The hiragana おもいだします is also a valid way to write it. ⚫︎The kanji form is more common in written Japanese. ⚫︎The okurigana (the hiragana following the kanji) is だします.

⚫︎覚えています(おぼえています) - "to remember" (more general and less focused on retrieving a forgotten memory) ⚫︎回想します(かいそうします) - "to recall," "to reminisce" (more formal) ⚫︎想起します(そうきします) - "to recollect," "to recall" (formal) ⚫︎思い出す - This is the plain form of the verb 思い出します and is the dictionary form.

⚫︎忘れます(わすれます) - "to forget" ⚫︎忘れ去ります(わすれさります) - "to completely forget"

初めて日本に来た時のことを思い出します。 ・Translation: I remember the time when I first came to Japan. ・Explanation: This sentence uses 思い出します to express recalling the specific experience of arriving in Japan for the first time.

試験の前に、先生が言ったことを一生懸命思い出そうとしました。 ・Translation: Before the exam, I tried hard to remember what the teacher said. ・Explanation: This sentence shows the effort to actively recall information using the "te-form" and the potential form of the verb 思い出す (to try to remember).

⚫︎The word is formed from the verb stem 思い (from the verb 思う, meaning "to think" or "to feel") and the verb 出す (meaning "to take out," "to put out," or "to send forth"). ⚫︎Therefore, 思い出します literally means something like "to take out a thought" or "to bring forth a memory."