The French Verbs “To Know”

Savoir and Connaître

Savoir and connaître both mean “to know.” But they mean “to know” in very different ways: savoir relates more to things and connaître relates more to people, although there is an overlap with both verbs.

The verbs savoir and connaître both mean “to know” in French. As we’ve learned in several other modules, we learn to conjugate irregular verbs that share similar conjugation patterns. In this case, we are learning how to conjugate these two verbs to learn in what contexts we use them being that they have the same meaning. Below are the conjugation charts of both savoir and connaître.

*The asterisk indicates unpredictable changes with spelling. In the conjugation chart of savoir the future tense stem is unique and does not follow the traditional, regular verb pattern of having its infinitive as the stem. In the conjugation chart for connaître, notice the circumflex accent (^) that is present in its infinitive and the third person singular conjugation.

When to Use Each Verb

As we know, both verbs mean “to know.” However, they are not interchangeable.

Use Savoir When:

• You know a fact, piece of information, or data.

Je sais la vérité.                                              I know the truth.

Nous ne savons pas son nom.                         We don’t know his name.

• You know how to do something (savoir + verb infinitive)

On sait parler français.                                   We know how to speak French.

Vous ne savez pas conduire.                           You don’t know how to drive.  

Use Connaître When:

• You want to express familiarity of people, places, or work

            Connais-tu Michelle ?                                    Do you know Michelle ?

Je connais la route.                                         I am familiar with the route.

Elles connaissent bien les boîtes de nuit.        They know the nightclubs well.

Savoir and Connaître in the Passé Composé.

When used in the past tense, these verbs do not mean “knew.” The past tense of savoir means “found out” and the past tense of connaître means “met (someone for the first time).”

The past participle of savoir is su.      →         J’ai su le sens du mot.

                                                                        I found out the meaning of the word.

The past participle of connaître is connu. → Ils ont connu leur voisin aujourd’hui.

They met their neighbor today.

Additional Examples:

Elle a connu un nouvel ami.  

She met a new friend.                                                

Je saurai le verdict demain matin.

I will know the verdict tomorrow morning.

Quand je regarderai une carte, je connaîtrai la bonne route.

When I look at a map, I will know the right route.

Nous avons su la date du concert.

We found out the date of the concert.

Sais-tu réparer l’ordinateur ?

Do you know how to repair the computer?

Savoir and connaître both mean “to know.” But they mean “to know” in very different ways: savoir relates more to things and connaître relates more to people, although there is an overlap with both verbs.