📖LearnModule 6 · Lesson 7 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1, first halfUnit 2 · Work, school and the future
¿Saber o conocer? — two ways to know
Module 6 of the free Spanish course (CEFR B1, first half), lesson 7 of 30: English has one know; Spanish has two. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
saber
to know (a fact)
sah-BEHR
conocer
to know (a person or place)
koh-noh-SEHR
yo sé nadar
I know how to swim
yoh seh nah-DAR
nadar
to swim
nah-DAR
conozco Bogotá
I know Bogotá
koh-NOHS-koh boh-goh-TAH
la respuesta
the answer
lah rrehs-PWEHS-tah
de memoria
by heart
deh meh-MOH-ryah
ella conoce a mi hermano
she knows my brother
EH-yah koh-NOH-seh ah mee ehr-MAH-noh
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
English has one know; Spanish has two. Saber is knowing a fact or a skill: yo sé nadar, sé dónde vive. Conocer is knowing a person or a place: conozco a María, conozco Bogotá. Both are irregular in the yo form only: sé, conozco.
Y también · And also
The test: if you could learn it by heart or by practice, it is saber. If you could be introduced to it, it is conocer. And when the thing known is a PERSON, conocer takes the personal a: conozco a María, ella conoce a mi hermano.
Ojo · Watch out
saber + infinitive is knowing HOW: sé nadar. conocer never takes an infinitive, and takes the personal a before a person: conozco a María. The yo forms are the odd ones: sé, conozco.
saber, presente — the table
yo sé · tú sabes · él/ella/usted sabe · nosotros sabemos · ustedes saben · ellos/ellas saben
conocer, presente — the table
yo conozco · tú conoces · él/ella/usted conoce · nosotros conocemos · ustedes conocen · ellos/ellas conocen
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with saber.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out saber, presente and conocer, presente in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.