How French works
In French there are two different ways of expressing the English verb to know. These are both irregular verbs: savoir (meaning to know something) and connaître (meaning to know someone).
Savoir conjugates as follows:
| savoir to know (something) | ||
|---|---|---|
| je | sais | |
| tu | sais | |
| il / elle | sait | |
| nous | savons | |
| vous | savez | |
| ils / elles | savent | |
You use savoir when you’re talking about knowing a fact or about something you’ve learned to do:
Elle ne sait pas la réponse
She doesn’t know the answer
Il ne sait pas cuisiner
He can’t cook
Connaître conjugates as follows:
| connaître to know (someone) | ||
|---|---|---|
| je | connais | |
| tu | connais | |
| il / elle | connaît | |
| nous | connaissons | |
| vous | connaissez | |
| ils / elles | connaissent | |
You use connaître when you’re talking about someone or something you recognize through seeing, hearing, etc.:
Je connais bien Pierre
I know Pierre well
Elle ne connaît pas Manchester
She doesn’t know Manchester
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