Saber vs Conocer in Spanish: Which to Use & When

In Spanish, there are two different verbs ‘to know.’ Knowing which one to use is often difficult for English speakers.ย However, they are two of the most important verbs you can learn if you want to speak Spanish beyond beginner level.

In this post, we take you through saber vs conocer, when to use these two verbs and how to make sure you do not make mistakes when using them.

We’ll take you through:

๐Ÿ‘ Conocer vs saber and the main differences between both

๐Ÿ‘ When to use the verb saber

๐Ÿ‘ When to use the verb conocer

How to conjugate saber in the present tense

In Spanish, it’s important to learn how to conjugate verbs in the present tense as quickly as possible.

Once you have done this, you’ll be able to manipulate the language and talk more fluently without needing to translate from English first.

See below how to conjugate saber in the present tense.

SubjectVerb: Saber (to know)English Translation
yosรฉI know
tรบsabesyou know
รฉl / ella / ustedsabehe / she / you knows
nosotros / nosotrassabemoswe know
vosotros / vosotrassabรฉisyou know
ellos / ellas / ustedessabenthey know

How to conjugate conocer in the present tense

SubjectVerb: Conocer (to know)English Translation
yoconozcoI know
tรบconocesyou know
รฉl / ella / ustedconocehe / she / you knows
nosotros / nosotrasconocemoswe know
vosotros / vosotrasconocรฉisyou know
ellos / ellas / ustedesconocenthey know

Use ‘saber’ for general information

Saber means ‘to know’ in the sense of knowing general information. However, there are some discrepancies with this and certain things to remember here when learning Spanish.

That said, as a general rule, if you have heard something or have found out some fact, saber is the correct verb to use in this situation.

Ejemplos:

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Debes saber que es muy perjudicial fumar.

You should know that it’s very harmful to smoke.

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ ยฟCrees que saben el resultado del partido?

Do you think they know the result of the match?

Note that both of these examples areย youย in the singular form, not the plural form (which would be vosotros or ustedes).

 

person playing soccer

Use saber to ask how to do something

The verb saber is used when asking somebody how to do something, or explaining that you know how to do something.

For example:

Leticia, tengo mas experiencia que tรบ. Yo sรฉ como se hace el tiro con arco.”

Leticia, I have more experience than you do. I know how to shoot with a bow and arrow.

Use saber for a learned skill or specific information

Saber is used when a person has a basic knowledge or knows how to perform specific tasks.

It can translated with โ€˜knowingโ€™ as well as knowing how.

Por ejemplo:

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Yo sรฉ escribir en espaรฑol.

I know how to read Spanish.

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Ellos saben como hacer dinero.

They know how to make money

Saber vs Conocer: When to use Conocer?

Now we come on to the other verb ‘to know’ in Spanish – conocer.

As a general rule, conocer is a stronger verb than saber, meaning that when you ‘know’ something you know it well.

It has the sense of having acquired knowledge from somewhere, such as cultural knowledge or general information, rather than knowing things through personal experience or practice.

Por ejemplo:

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Yo conozco bien el paรญs vasco.

I know the Basque country well.

Now, let’s take a look at specific cases of when to use conocer.

colourful houses in the basque country
Use conocer to know a person, place or thing

Conocer is the correct verb to use if you want to know the name or location of a person, place or thing.

For example:

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Yo conozco a Veronica desde hace muchos aรฑos.

I have known Veronica for many years.

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ El nombre de la plaza es Plaza Espaรฑa. Yo no la conozco.

The name of the place is Plaza Espaรฑa. I know it.

Note that, in this case, ‘it’ refers to the place and insinuates that the speaker knows the area and its whereabouts.

Use conocer to know a person, even if not by name

As noted earlier, always remember to use conocer to explain that you know a person or relative.

Por ejemplo:

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Yo conozco a tu primo.

I know your cousin.

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Ella me dijo que no te conoce.

She told me that she doesn’t know you.

Use conocer when referring to knowing of places

Above, you’ll notice there’s an ‘a‘ between you knowing something and the person are referring to.

In Spanish, we call this the ‘personal a’ and you’ll come across it when you learn Spanish beyond beginner level.

When describing places, we don’t add the ‘a’ in Spanish. Let’s look at some examples for context.

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ No conozco Espaรฑa.

I don’t know Spain (refers to not having been).

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Usted sabe que no conozco las Islas Baleares.

You know that I don’t know the Balearic Islands.

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Conozco todas las ciudades en Mรฉxico porque fui en 2018.

I know all the cities in Mexico because I went in 2018.

people standing on corner road near concrete buildings during daytime
Conocer in reciprocal sentences

In Spanish, reciprocal verbs describe two persons that do something to or for one another. These are not to be confused with reflexive verbs. ๐Ÿ˜‰

Examples include:

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Amarse – to love each other

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Enojarse – to get angry at each other

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Escribirse – to write to each other

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Hablarse – to talk to each other

One particular verb similar to those above is ‘conocerse.’

This is used in the way we say ‘meet’ in English.

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Se conocieron en 1995.

They met each other in 1995.

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Nos conocemos desde hace muchos aรฑos…

We’ve known each other a long time…

Saber vs Conocer: Can you ever use both?

By now, you should have a relatively clear idea of the difference betweenย saberย andย conocer.

There is a grey area where a kind of interchangeability may occur, and that is when talking about abstract ideas.

However, this is not something you should worry about. It will come naturally the more you use the two verbs and the Spanish language in general on a daily basis.

Below are some examples of this interchangeability.

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ El arqueรณlogo quiere conocerย el motivo por el que se extinguieron los dinosaurios.

The archaeologist wants to know the reason why dinosaurs became extinct.

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ El arqueรณlogo quiere saberย el motivo por el que se extinguieron los dinosaurios.

The archaeologist wants to know the reason why dinosaurs became extinct.

There is a subtle difference in the meaning of each of those two sentences.

The first one (usingย conocer), refers to wanting to find out the truth and the second one (usingย saber) refers to wanting to know something for a fact.

Saber vs Conocer: Summing up when to use them

So, let’s sum up what we’ve been through.

When it comes to saber vs conocer, there are a few simple points to take into consideration. We’ll go through these with examples.

Remember to use saber when talking about:

โœ… Facts – meaning you know something for a fact.

โœ… Information – expressing you know something in particular.

โœ… Learned Skills – stating you know how to do something.

However, conocer is used in the following contexts:

โœ… PERSON – pronoun a, meeting for the first time, reciprocal sentences.

โœ… PLACE – expressing you know or do not know a place.

โœ… THING – expressing you know a something in particular.

Man thinking about saber vs conocer

Saber examples in the Spanish language

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Te lo digo ahora para que lo sepas.

I’m telling you now so that you know about it.

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Yo sรฉ que has estado toda la noche con ella.

I know you’ve been with her all night.

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Ustedes saben que no soy asรญ.

You know I’m not like that.

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ No le empujes hacia al agua, no sabe nadar…

Don’t push him towards the water, he doesn’t know how to swim…

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Que yo sepa, estos chicos no tienen trabajo.

As far as I know, these guys don’t have jobs.

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ No me preguntes eso, yo no sรฉ nada.

Don’t ask me that, I don’t know anything.

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Nosotros sabemos bien la situaciรณn. No hay problema.

We know the situation well. There’s no problem.

Conocer examples:

In essence, there are several ways to translate conocer, depending on context. Let’s look at some examples below.

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Te ves muy familiar, ยฟnos conocemos?

You look really familiar, do we know each other?

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ ยฟConoces la persona que ha dejado esta maleta en el pasillo?

Do you know the person that has left this suitcase in the corridor?

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Juan no conoce bien a Rina ahora que se ha mudado.

Juan doesn’t know Rina well now she has moved away.

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ ยฟConoces Madrid? Yo lo conozco bien y me encanta.

Do you know Madrid? I know it well and I love it.

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Yo conozco a toda la gente que vive en aquel apartamento.

I know everyone that lives in that apartment.

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