French Verb Conjugations: To Know (connaître / savoir)

How to conjugate connaître and savoir in French, with pronunciation

---

Buy French Language Tutorial as an e-book! French Language Tutorial includes more than 200 pages of grammar and vocabulary topics, sample sentences, informal ways of speaking, cultural information about France, and an overview of French pronunciation. This e-book also comes with 200+ mp3s (more than FIVE HOURS) recorded by three native speakers and FREE lifetime updates. Download the first 10 pages of French Language Tutorial (including the table of contents). NEW! The companion e-book, Informal and Spoken French, is also now available! Buy the two French e-books together at a discounted price!

Buy French Language Tutorial

---

For more French learning through authentic videos, I recommend Yabla French and FluentU. For audiobooks and lessons of modern French, try French Today. I've recommended some French books at Amazon, and Interlinear books are great for learning French by reading literal translations in English. Need even more French? Try the French courses at Udemy

French Verbs: To Know People & Places / Connaître & Savoir

connaître-to know people /kɔnɛtʀ/				savoir-to know facts  /savwaʀ/
connais	/kɔnɛ/	connaissons	/kɔnɛsɔ̃/	sais	/sɛ/	savons	/savɔ̃/
connais	/kɔnɛ/	connaissez	/kɔnɛse/	sais	/sɛ/	savez	/save/
connaît	/kɔnɛ/	connaissent	/kɔnɛs/	sait	/sɛ/	savent	/sav/

Connaître is used when you know (are familiar with) people, places, food, movies, books, etc. and savoir is used when you know facts.  When savoir is followed by an infinitive it means to know how.
There is another form of savoir commonly used in the expressions que je sache that I know (of) and pas que je sache not that I know (of).

Je connais ton frère.  I know your brother.
Je sais que ton frère s'appelle Jean.  I know that your brother is named John.
Connaissez-vous Grenoble ?  Do you know (Are you familiar with) Grenoble? / Have you ever been to Grenoble?
Oui, nous connaissons Grenoble.  Yes, we know (are familiar with) Grenoble. / Yes, we've been to Grenoble.
Tu sais où Grenoble se trouve.  You know where Grenoble is located.
Ils savent nager.  They know how to swim.

Connaître can be translated several ways into English:
Tu connais le film, Les Enfants ? Have you seen the film, Les Enfants?
Tu connais Lyon ? Have you ever been to Lyon?
Tu connais la tartiflette ? Have you ever eaten tartiflette?

 

---