记
jì
Pressing it into a slot, in your head or on paper: 记
The picture You catch a floating word or number and press it into a square, either in your head or on the page. 记 presses it in and makes it stay; 忘 is that same thing slipping back out.
Where the picture shows up in 记
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it will not stick
我记不住他的名字。
wǒ jì bú zhù tā de míng zi
I cannot remember his name.
A name tag touching the slot in your head and sliding off again and again
住 marks staying put where it landed
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pressed onto paper
请把地址记下来。
qǐng bǎ dì zhǐ jì xià lái
Please write the address down.
Pressing each character of a spoken address into a small notebook
记下来 brings it down onto the page
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keeping a record
医生在本子上记了几句。
yī shēng zài běn zi shàng jì le jǐ jù
The doctor wrote a few lines in her notebook.
Head bent over a chart, pressing a few lines in while the patient talks
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what was pressed in is still there
你还记得我吗？
nǐ hái jì de wǒ ma
Do you still remember me?
A face pressed in long ago, still sitting in its square in your head
记得 says it is still in place now
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carrying it pressed in
这件事我一直记着。
zhè jiàn shì wǒ yì zhí jì zhe
I have been keeping that matter in mind.
A single sheet pressed into a slot behind your chest and left there for a long time
All of it in one picture
记 is pressing something loose into one square. When a name will not stick in the square in your head, that is 记不住; when an address is pressed into the square on paper, that is writing it down. A few lines pressed into a notebook is keeping a record, and a face pressed in long ago that is still there is 记得. Leave one matter pressed in and carry it, and that is 记着.