# [Spanish Verbs] What's the difference between Saber and Conocer?
> Confused about the difference between saber and conocer in Spanish? We'll cover each verb's usage and conjugation and provide several example sentences.
**URL:** https://migaku.com/blog/spanish/saber-vs-conocer
**Last Updated:** 2025-07-11
**Tags:** vocabulary
---
You’ve just started learning Spanish, and "to know" seems like an important word to learn. So you Google it... and find that there are two words for "to know" in Spanish: _saber_ and _conocer_.
What gives?
Well, they're used to talk about knowing different things!
> While you can know someone and know something in English, in Spanish, you "conocer" someone and "saber" something.
But that's clear as mud, so let’s get into it:
---
## What does "saber" mean?
> Saber is used to talk about knowing:
>
> - Facts
> - Information
> - How to do something
Think of saber as knowing something in your head. It’s used when you know something from memory or when you have learned a skill. If you can memorize a phone number or if you've learned how to swim, you’d use _saber_ to talk about knowing those things.
Two quick examples for you:
- Sé la respuesta.
_I know the answer._
- Sabe hablar español.
_He/she knows how to speak Spanish._
### How to conjugate the verb saber in the present tense
Like many common verbs in Spanish, _saber_ is irregular, so its forms don’t follow the usual pattern.
Since you'll often use this verb in the context of saying you do or don't know something, here’s how it looks in the present tense:
| Subject (Spanish) | Saber (Present Tense) | English translation |
| ----------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| yo | sé | I know |
| tú | sabes | you (informal) know |
| él / ella / usted | sabe | he / she / you (formal) knows |
| nosotros / nosotras | sabemos | we know |
| vosotros / vosotras | sabéis | you all (Spain) know |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | saben | they / you all (Latin America) know |
As you can see, the irregular conjugation here is _sé_ (first person singular). If we were following normal conjugation rules, you'd expect _sé_ to be _sabo_.
## What does "conocer" mean?
While saber likely made sense, conocer tends to trip people up a bit. It means “to know” people, places, or things in a more personal or familiar way—less "know of" and more "be familiar with". This knowledge is a bit more tangible.
If "saber" means "to know something with your head", then conocer might mean something more like "to have learned of something via experience".
For example:
- Conozco a María.
_I know María._
- Conozco Madrid.
_I’m familiar with Madrid._
- ¿Conoces esa bebida?
_Do you know that drink?_
> Use "a" when talking about people
Notice how, in the above two example sentences, the one with María includes a seemingly random "a"? When you talk about knowing people (and sometimes pets) in Spanish, you must place "a" between conocer and the person you know.
### How to conjugate conocer in the present tense
_Conocer_ is also irregular, but only in the _yo_ (I) form. The rest of the conjugation follows regular -er verb patterns.
Here’s how _conocer_ looks in the present tense:
| Subject (Spanish) | Conocer (Present Tense) | English translation |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| yo | conozco | I know |
| tú | conoces | you (informal) know |
| él / ella / usted | conoce | he / she / you (formal) know |
| nosotros / nosotras | conocemos | we know |
| vosotros / vosotras | conocéis | you all (Spain) know |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | conocen | they / you all (Latin America) know |
---
## What’s the difference between saber and conocer in Spanish?
Both verbs mean “to know,” but they cannot be used interchangeably. Each one is used to talk about knowing different types of things.
In other words, your choice of saber vs conocer depends on what you know and how you know it.
### ➡️ Use saber to:
Talk about facts _or_ knowing how to do something.
- Sé la respuesta.
_I know the answer._
- ¿Sabes nadar?
_Do you know how to swim?_
- No sé dónde está.
_I don’t know where it is._
Again, notice how all of this is "knowledge" stuff that you can objectively know and that may not exist anywhere except in your head.
> 💡 Pro tip 💡
When you're using saber to say know how to do something, the thing you know how to use will be a verb in the infinitive. Observe above: the question is sabes _nadar_, not sabes _nadas_.
### ➡️ Use conocer to:
Talk about people, places, or things you’re familiar with.
- Conozco a tu hermana.
_I know your sister._
- ¿Conoces este libro?
_Are you familiar with this book?_
- Conocemos Barcelona muy bien.
_We know Barcelona very well._
Here, notice how we're often talking about something that actually exists in a concrete sentence—whereas you know in your head that 2+2 is 4 (saber), you very well may have spent time living in Madrid or being friends with someone's sister (conocer).
---
## How the meaning of saber and conocer change in the past tense (+conjugations)
We're not going to walk through _every_ verb tense—that would be a really long post—but it's worth looking at the simple past tense (el pretérito) specifically. In this tense, the meaning of both _saber_, and _conocer_ change in ways that can trip up learners—especially if you’re still trying to wrap your head around how they work in the present tense.
While the basic "saber for facts, conocer for things" difference persists in the simple past tense, there's also an additional nuance: we're now talking about the point at which we transitioned from _not knowing_ to _knowing_.
### Saber as “to find out” (not just “to know”)
When used in the past tense, _saber_ refers to the moment someone **learned** or **discovered** something. It marks the point at which you obtained some sort of knowledge.
- Supe la verdad ayer.
_I found out the truth yesterday._
- ¿Supiste que cancelaron la clase?
_Did you find out they canceled the class?_
- Ella supo que estaba embarazada.
_She found out she was pregnant._
Now, let’s take a closer look at how _saber_ is conjugated in the past tense.
| Subject (Spanish) | Saber (Past Tense) | English translation |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| yo | supe | I knew/found out |
| tú | supiste | you (informal) knew/found out |
| él / ella / usted | supo | he / she / you (formal) knew/found out |
| nosotros / nosotras | supimos | we knew/found out |
| vosotros / vosotras | supisteis | you all (Spain) knew/found out |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | supieron | they / you all (Latin America) knew/found out |
> 💡 Bonus 💡
If somebody tells you something, and it's news to you, you can say "no lo sabía" (I didn't know that). The imperfect past tense is used here, instead of the simple past tense, because you're referring to the _state_ of having not known.
### Conocer as “to meet” (not just “to know” someone)
When used in the past tense, _conocer_ means that someone **met** another person for the first time. It marks the moment of the first encounter between two parties.
- Conocí a Sophia en 2019.
_I met Sophia in 2019._
- ¿Conociste a sus padres?
_Did you meet her parents?_
- Ellos conocieron a su profesor el lunes.
_They met their teacher on Monday._
Now, let’s see how _conocer_ is conjugated in the past tense.
| Subject (Spanish) | Conocer (Past Tense) | English translation |
| ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- |
| yo | conocí | I knew/met |
| tú | conociste | you (informal) knew/met |
| él / ella / usted | conoció | he / she / you (formal) knew/met |
| nosotros / nosotras | conocimos | we knew/met |
| vosotros / vosotras | conocisteis | you all (Spain) knew/met |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | conocieron | they / you all (Latin America) knew/met |
---
## Saber vs conocer: What learners get wrong
It’s easy to get _saber_ and _conocer_ mixed up, especially if you’re translating directly from English. As you consume more Spanish media, you'll eventually develop a more intuitive feel for what these Spanish words mean and when each should be used...
but, for now, here are two common mistakes Spanish learners often make—and how to fix them.
### Mistake 1: Using "conocer" for facts or information
As mentioned above:_Conocer_ isn’t used for things you know in your head, like facts, trivia, or things you've memorized. That’s what _saber_ is for.
> Incorrect:
>
> - ❌ Conozco que ella viene mañana.
_I know that she’s coming tomorrow._
>
> Correct:
>
> - ✅ Sé que ella viene mañana.
_I know that she’s coming tomorrow._
>
> Explanation → This is a piece of information that you heard and you now know, so you should mention it with saber.
> Incorrect:
>
> - ❌ ¿Conoces la capital de Perú?
_Do you know the capital of Peru?_
>
> Correct:
>
> - ✅ ¿Sabes cuál es la capital de Perú?
_Do you know what the capital of Peru is?_.
>
> Explanation → This one's a bit tricky. Normally you'd use conocer to talk about places... but we use saber here because we're saying that we know something _about_ Peru, not saying that we've been there.
### Mistake 2: Using saber for people or places
You can’t _saber_ a person or a place. If you’re talking about meeting or being familiar with someone or somewhere, you need _conocer_.
> Incorrect:
>
> - ❌ ¿Sabes a tu nuevo profesor?
_Do you know your new teacher?_
>
> Correct:
>
> - ✅ ¿Conoces a tu nuevo profesor?
_Do you know your new teacher?_
>
> Explanation → This one is pretty straightforward! We use "conocer" to talk about having met people. Again, if we were to talk about _facts_, it could be acceptable to use saber in a similar sentence, such as "Me gustaría saber quién es tu profesor." (I would like to know who your teacher is.)
> Incorrect:
>
> - ❌ Sabemos este restaurante.
_We know this restaurant._
>
> Correct:
>
> - ✅ Conocemos este restaurante.
_We know this restaurant._
>
> Explanation: Same as above—to say you know of a place, you'll use conocer.
### Mistake 3: Using saber to talk about familiarity or experience
This one is actually sort of contained within the above point, but since "heard of" and "familiar with" are common English expressions, it's worth being clear: _conocer_ is usually the better option to translate these phrases.
> Incorrect:
>
> - ❌ ¿Sabes esta película?
_Do you know this movie?._
>
> Correct:
>
> - ✅ ¿Conoces esta película?
_Do you know this movie?_
>
> Explanation → You're familiar with the movie, so you use conocer. If you were talking about a fact—you knew that it was made by XYZ director, you could use saber.
> Incorrect:
>
> - ❌ No sabemos ese grupo de música.
_We don’t know that music group._
>
> Correct:
>
> - ✅ No conocemos ese grupo de música.
_We don’t know that music group._
>
> Explanation → Same deal here! You haven't heard of the band, so you haven't _conocer_'d them yet. You could say "saber" to say, for example, that you hadn't known they were actually Italian.
This kind of mistake usually occurs when you're translating directly from English. To avoid it, do your best to stop for a moment and decide if you're talking about a _fact_ or about being _familiar_ with something.
---
## \[Video example\] One beautiful phrase you should remember
So, you're on YouTube binging telénovelas of questionable quality, such as [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWc-nbp56h4), and your guilty pleasure turns useful because you stumble into this incredibly instructive sentence:
- Desde el día en que te conocí, sabía que...
_Since the day I met you, I knew that..._
Now, _that's_ beautiful. It's a single sentence that uses both _saber_ and _conocer_:
- Conocer is used to refer to the day that the speaker met someone
- Saber is used to show what he learned on that day
Now, _what_ he says he learned is actually quite vulgar, so we'll skip that. _(Go check out our article on [Spanish swear words](https://migaku.com/blog/spanish/spanish-swear-words), you dawg.)_ What he said in particular doesn't really matter. He could have learned _anything_. The point is just that if you remember this phrase, you'll have a small test you can use to decide if you should use conocer or saber in a particular situation.
With Migaku, remembering the phrase is easy. Just click that orange button in the top-right corner of the popup dictionary, and we'll yoink some stuff from the video to make a flashcard like this one:
From here, [we employ a spaced-repetition algorithm](https://migaku.com/blog/language-fun/spaced-repetition-language-learning) to periodically nudge you to remember this (and any other phrases you've learned). Eventually, it'll just stick.
It's that simple, it's kind of beautiful, and you can try it free for ten days:
---
## Now you "conocer a" these Spanish verbs, and you "saber" how to use them! Nice!
We've said it about thirty-seven times this article, but here it is once more for good measure:
- **Use saber** if you’re talking about facts, data, or learned skills
- **Use conocer** if you’re talking about people, places, or things you’ve experienced or met
For now, that's unfortunately a set of rules you'll just have to remember. Know that it won't always be that way, though. If you consume enough Spanish media, this is something you'll eventually feel—you'll have heard people say _conocí a (so and so) en..._ a million times, but never _supe a (so and so)_—and, as a result, it'll begin feeling a little weird to use "saber" to talk about knowing people.
> If you consume media you enjoy in Spanish, and you understand some of the messages and sentences within that media, you will make progress. _Period_.
¡Buena suerte\! And enjoy the process.