student asking question

Can I replace "memory" here with "recollection"? How are they different?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

When used as nouns, "memory" means the ability to record information or details about things or events and then remembering them later at any time that you want to. It is a vague and general term, and probably the safest to use if you don't know which one to pick. "Recollection" can mean the act of recollecting, remembering, or recalling to the memory. However, a "recollection" can also refer to information retrieved from your memory. Ex: Memories of last summer are still vivid in my mind. = Recollections of last summer are still vivid in my mind. So while technically you could replace memory with recollection, you will notice that in natural conversation native speakers will usually use memory.

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