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Is there a German equivalent of the phrase "That reminds me"?
An example usage in English (taken from Macmillan Dictionary): That reminds me. I must take the chicken out of the freezer.
Does perhaps "Das erinnert mich" sound like a plausible German version of the above mentioned English phrase?
Das erinnert mich. does not sound plausible at all, but feels rather incomplete. When reading that, I want to ask Woran erinnert es dich?
Possible phrases are
Das erinnert mich daran, dass ich noch das Hühnchen aus dem Gefrierschrank holen muss that's the way i'd say it.
Yes, you can translate the phrase "That reminds me of ..." with "Das erinnert mich an ..." However "Das erinnert mich." alone is wrong. In your example you would say:
Mir fällt gerade ein, dass ich noch...
or:
Mir fällt gerade etwas ein. Ich muss noch...
Direct translation:
Das erinnert mich an etwas. Ich muss ja noch das Huhn aus dem Gefrierschrank nehmen.
Many shorten it and say was instead of etwas, which makes it a tad informal.
We might even say
Das erinnert mich woran. Ich muss ja noch …
This is quite popular among young people, but it isn't strictly grammatical German (woran is usually used only in questions). Nevertheless, Google does find almost 400 uses of this (compared to 18400 for the an was version).
A very brief and informal version:
Ach ja, ich muss ja noch …
Mir fällt grad' ein, dass ich (noch) ...
The expression apropos is often used exactly that way.
See http://context.reverso.net/translation/english-german/that+reminds+me!
"Das bringt mich auf die Idee ..." sounds quite nice to me.
Yeah, the English to German translation of "That reminds me.." usually won't do, if grammatically and stylistically correct German is your goal. That said, most people would probably get what you're trying to say if you used it that way.
The correct translation/phrase in this context would probably be: "Ach ja! Wo wir grade davon sprechen: (...)" or "Wo wir grad dabei sind - (...)"
If it actually is used in the context that something reminds you of an event, some story, or thing in the past, then you would say something like: "Dabei muss ich immer daran denken, wie (...)"
This is only used when something actually reminds you of someone or an occurrance in the past. It is not used for e.g.: "That reminds me-I have to pick up the kids from school" ;)
