Yes, these are the good words here.
Souvenir is for something you remember, a remembrance… It also design an object who recall a moment of your life to you (like an object you got on a trip).
“J’ai souvenir d’un long voyage…” -> I remember a long trip…
“Je me souviens de ce jour…” -> I remember this day…
“J’ai acheté ce souvenir…” -> I bought this token…
Mémoire has approximately the same definition than memory and can be sometime used in place of Souvenir :
“J’ai mémoire d’un long voyage…” -> I remember a long trip…
Yes, memory translates to different terms in french, depending on the meaning.
As you presumed :
A memory of walking in the park (memory = souvenir)
but
I have an excellent memory. (memory = mémoire)
I can’t think of any other meanings…
You have the right word for each context. A single memory (i.e. an event) is a “souvenir”, but memory in general is “mémoire”. Other expressions that have more quirky translations include:
- “in memory of” → “à la mémoire de”/”en souvenir de”
- “have pleasant memories of” → “garder un bon souvenir de”
In computing, “memory” is also “mémoire”: “Mémoire vive” “mémoire morte” (“RAM”/”ROM”).
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