Saber vs conocer: the difference, explained with 30 examples
English has one verb for “to know”. Spanish has two, and they are not interchangeable. Saber is knowledge you hold in your head; conocer is familiarity you gain by experience. This guide gives you the rule, three tests that settle any sentence, and the traps.
The rule in one line
Saber = to know facts, information and how to do things. Conocer = to be familiar with people, places and things you have experienced.
If you can replace “know” with “have the information” or “know how”, it is saber. If you can replace it with “be acquainted with” or “have been to”, it is conocer.
Saber: facts, information, skills
- A fact: Sé que tienes razón. (I know that you’re right.)
- Information: ¿Sabes su número de teléfono?
- A question word: No sé dónde está. ¿Sabes cuándo llega? No sabemos si viene.
- A skill, with the infinitive: Sé nadar. Mi hija sabe leer. ¿Sabes conducir?
- By heart: Me sé el poema de memoria.
- A subject, in general: Mi abuela sabe mucho de plantas.
Conocer: people, places, things
- A person, with the personal a: Conozco a tu hermano. ¿Conoces a alguien en Bogotá?
- A place: ¿Conoces Sevilla? No conozco bien este barrio.
- A book, film, song, artist: ¿Conoces la música de Juan Luis Guerra?
- A restaurant, shop, company, product: ¿Conoces ese café de la esquina?
- Meeting someone for the first time (preterite): Conocí a mi mujer en 2012.
Three tests that settle any sentence
Test 1: Can que, si or a question word follow it? “I know that …”, “I know if …”, “I know where …”. If yes, it is saber. Conocer is never followed by que.
Test 2: Is it a skill? “Know how to” is saber + infinitive, with no cómo: sé cocinar. (Sé cómo cocinar sounds like a translation from English.)
Test 3: Is the object a person, a place or a thing you have experienced? If yes, it is conocer. A fact about that person is still saber: Conozco a Luis, pero no sé dónde vive.
Both verbs in one sentence
- Conozco Madrid, pero no sé llegar al museo.
- Sé quién es, pero no la conozco personalmente.
- ¿Conoces esta canción? ¿Sabes quién la canta?
- No conozco a nadie que sepa arreglar esto.
The preterite changes the meaning
| Verb | Imperfect | Preterite | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| saber | sabía = knew | supe = found out | Ayer supe que se casan. |
| conocer | conocía = knew (a person, place) | conocí = met for the first time | Conocí a Ana en una boda. |
So “I knew him well” is lo conocía bien, and “I met him last year” is lo conocí el año pasado. If you say lo conocí bien, a Spanish speaker hears “I got to know him well”.
Conjugation
In the present tense, both verbs are irregular only in the yo form; the other present forms are regular.
| saber | conocer | |
|---|---|---|
| yo | sé | conozco |
| tú | sabes | conoces |
| él / ella / usted | sabe | conoce |
| nosotros | sabemos | conocemos |
| vosotros | sabéis | conocéis |
| ellos / ustedes | saben | conocen |
In the preterite, saber is a strong preterite (supe, supiste, supo, supimos, supisteis, supieron), while conocer is regular (conocí, conociste, conoció…). In the present subjunctive, both keep the irregular stem: sepa, sepas… and conozca, conozcas….
Mistakes English speakers make
- Sé a María. Wrong. People take conocer: Conozco a María.
- Sé cómo nadar. Unnatural. Drop cómo: Sé nadar. (Keep it only when you mean the method: sé cómo funciona.)
- Conozco que es verdad. Wrong. A clause with que takes saber: Sé que es verdad.
- Over-correcting conocer with facts. Sé la respuesta is the usual choice for a fact you hold, but conozco la respuesta is also correct Spanish (it means you are acquainted with it). Only the que-clause is impossible with conocer.
- Forgetting the accent on sé. Se without the accent is the pronoun (se lava); sé is “I know”.
Two bonus meanings
Saber a means “to taste like”: Esta sopa sabe a ajo. No sabe a nada. It is the same verb, from the Latin root that also gives us “savor”.
Conocerse is reciprocal: Nos conocimos en la universidad (we met each other). And conocer a alguien de vista means to know someone by sight; conocer a alguien de + place says where you know them from: la conozco del trabajo.
How to make it automatic
Run the three tests on every sentence for a week and the choice becomes a reflex. The free saber vs conocer drill gives you 36 sentences in 60 seconds and tells you, for every miss, which kind of knowing it was.
Quick answers
What is the difference between saber and conocer?
Saber is knowing facts, information and skills: sé la respuesta, sé nadar, sé dónde vive. Conocer is being familiar with people, places and things through experience: conozco a Marta, conozco Lima, conozco esa película.
Do you use saber or conocer for a person?
Conocer, with the personal a: conozco a tu hermano. Saber is never used to say you know a person, although facts about a person take saber: sé quién es.
How do you say “I know how to” in Spanish?
Saber plus the infinitive: sé nadar, sé conducir, sabe cocinar. Do not add cómo.
What does conocí mean?
In the preterite, conocer usually means “met for the first time”: conocí a Luis en 2019 is “I met Luis in 2019”. Supe, the preterite of saber, means “I found out”.
Is it sé or se?
Sé with an accent is “I know” (and the command “be”). Se without an accent is the pronoun used in se levanta, se lo di and similar sentences.
What does saber a mean?
Saber a means “to taste like”: esta sopa sabe a ajo (this soup tastes like garlic). It is the same verb saber used with the preposition a.