9.29: To know in Spanish: Saber vs Conocer

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Objetivos

Distinguish between what you know and what you are familiar with

Gramática

There are two verbs in Spanish that translate “to know” in English, similar to what you have observed with our verb “to be”. The two ways of knowing in Spanish are saber and conocer.

Saber Irregular in the first person singular, regular in all other forms in the present tense..	Conocer Irregular in the first person singular, regular in all other forms in the present tense.
sé	conozco
sabes	conoces
sabe	conoce
sabemos	conocemos
sabéis	conocéis
saben	conocen

The distinction is not so difficult to remember:

Saber → to know a skill, to be aware of some information, to have knowledge about some topic.

Conocer → to know a person, to be familiar with who they are because of a previous physical encounter, or because they are well known and/or famous. Also to know a place because you have been there.

Ejemplos:

Saber
Yo sé patinar. (I know how to skate.)
Tú sabes hablar un poco de español. (You know how to speak a bit of Spanish.)
Nosotros sabemos a qué hora es el partido de fútbol. (We know what time the soccer game is.)
Ellos saben jugar dominó. (They know how to play dominoes.)

Conocer
Yo conozco a la presidenta de la universidad personalmente. (I know personally the president of the university.)
¿Tú conoces la ciudad de Nueva York? (Do you know/are you familiar with the city of New York?)
Ellos conocen un lugar donde las personas que saben jugar dominó van los domingos. (They are familiar with a place where the people who know how to play dominoes go on Sundays.)

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To know in Spanish: Saber vs Conocer. Authored by: SUNY Oneonta with Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution