昨日のことぐらい忘れないで覚えていてくださいよ。

Question

昨日のことぐらい忘れないで覚えていてくださいよ。

Can someone explain what the いて is in the above sentence, is it いる？

Answer 1

覚えていてください just means "(please) remember". 覚えている is the -teiru form of 覚える, and 覚えていてください is its -tekudasai form.

In Japanese, verbs like 知る, 分かる, 覚える and so on work a little differently from English equivalents. The fundamental meaning of 覚える is "to memorize", and you need the -teiru form when you want to say something is already in your memory.

• 覚えます。
  I will memorize it.
• 覚えています。
  I remember it. (I can recall it. / I have memorized it and its result still exists.)
• 覚えているところです。
  I am (in the process of) memorizing it.
• 覚えてください。
  Please memorize it (from now).
• 覚えていてください。
  Please remember it. (Don't forget it. / Keep it in mind.)
  _{(In a rare context: Keep memorizing it.)}

See also:

• When is Vている the continuation of action and when is it the continuation of state?
• For 知る what is the difference between the simple present (知る) and 知っている forms?