The Lagrangian velocity autocorrelation and the time correlations for individual wave‐number bands are computed by direct numerical simulation (DNS) using the passive vector method (PVM), and the accuracy of the method is studied. It is found that the PVM is accurate whenKmax/kd≥2 whereKmaxis the maximum wave number carried in the simulation andkdis the Kolmogorov wave number. The Eulerian and Lagrangian time correlations for various wave‐number bands are compared. At moderate to high wave number the Eulerian time correlation decays faster than the Lagrangian, and the effect of sweep on the former is observed. The time scale of the Eulerian correlation is found to be (kU0)−1while that of the Lagrangian is [∫0k p2E(p)dp]−1/2. The Lagrangian velocity autocorrelation in a frozen turbulent field is computed using the DIA, ALHDIA, and LRA theories and is compared with DNS measurements. The Markovianized Lagrangian renormalized approximation (MLRA) is compared with the DNS, and good agreement is found for one‐time quantities in decaying turbulence at low Reynolds numbers and for the Lagrangian velocity autocorrelation in stationary turbulence at moderate Reynolds number. The effect of non‐Gaussianity on the Lagrangian correlation predicted by the theories is also discussed.