I need to remind my son that it is his job to take out the trash because he does not remember to do it. I need to remember my wife's birthday, but if I don't, surely she will remind me of it. remind and remember are not synonyms

There are relatively a lot of synonyms in English. One of the reasons is that English is a Germanic language, but is relatively more influenced by Latin and French than German or Dutch. Since French was the language of the nobility, mostly, almost always, the word from French origin is more sophisticated. For example ´enter' comes from ´entrer' in French. And to talk more like the upper class people, you would use ´enter' instead of the word from Germanic, common, origin, ´To get into'.

Okay that just helps you with one synonym in the list above, but I hope it helps you just a little then.