Saber or conocer

Two verbs for “to know”

English has one verb, know. Spanish has two, and they are not interchangeable:

• saber is for facts, information and skills: knowing that, where, when, how to;
• conocer is for people, places and things you are familiar with: knowing someone, having been somewhere.

A verb is an action or state word (speak, eat, know). Both of these are -er verbs, and each has one irregular form: the yo form.

Saber: facts, information and skills

Sé (I know) always has an accent. Without it, se is a different word: the pronoun in se llama or se levanta (Reflexive verbs for the daily routine (levantarse)).

Use saber for a piece of information, often followed by que (that), dónde (where), cuándo (when), si (whether) or a question word:

• Sé que hoy es lunes.I know that today is Monday.
• ¿Sabes dónde está la estación?Do you know where the station is?
• No sabemos su número de teléfono.We don't know his phone number.
• No lo sé.I don't know.

No lo sé is a fixed phrase: lo means “it” (you'll meet it properly in lo, la, los, las: the first object pronouns).

Saber + infinitive means “know how to”, a skill. An infinitive is the basic form of a verb, the one you find in the dictionary: nadar (to swim), cocinar (to cook).

• Mi hermana sabe tocar la guitarra.My sister can play the guitar.
• ¿Sabéis conducir?Can you drive?

Conocer: people, places and familiar things

Conozco is one of the irregular yo forms from Irregular yo forms: hago, pongo, salgo, traigo, conozco. When the thing you know is a person, put a in front of the person (The personal a: Veo a María). Places don't take a.

• Conozco a tu hermano.I know your brother.
• ¿Conoces Barcelona?Have you been to Barcelona?
• Mis padres no conocen este restaurante.My parents don't know this restaurant.
• Quiero conocer a tus amigos.I want to meet your friends.

Conocer also means to meet someone for the first time, as in the last example.

A quick test

Common mistakes

• Conozco nadar → Sé nadar. A skill takes saber.
• Sé cómo nadar (for the skill) → Sé nadar. For a skill Spanish normally puts the infinitive straight after saber; “know how to” is not translated word for word.
• Sé a María → Conozco a María. A person takes conocer.
• Conozco que estás cansado → Sé que estás cansado. A fact introduced by que takes saber.
• Se la respuesta → Sé la respuesta. Without the accent, se is not “I know”.
• Conozco a Madrid → Conozco Madrid. The personal a is only for people (and pets).

Latin America

The saber/conocer split is the same everywhere. Where Spain says ¿Sabéis…? or ¿Conocéis…? to a group, Latin America uses ¿Saben…? and ¿Conocen…? (ustedes).