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šŸŽ“ Savoir vs ConnaĆ®tre – the Verb “to Know” in French

Camille Chevalier-Karfis By Camille Chevalier-Karfis - updated on Oct 23, 2020
To Know in French

To translate “to know” in French, the choice between Savoir and ConnaĆ®tre depends on what follows the verb. Here are my clear explanations.

To translate ā€œto knowā€ in French, we use two irregular verbs:

  1. Savoir
  2. ConnaƮtre

In this lesson, I am not going to go over theĀ French irregularĀ verbĀ conjugations, but will explain which one to use, and also how to avoid a big misunderstanding between French and English speakers.

Many English speakers might not really understand when a French person asks them ā€œConnaissez-vous Paris ?ā€: In French, it means ā€œHave you been there yourself?ā€, not just ā€œhave you heard of itā€.

Most method will tell you that ā€œsavoirā€ is to know with a sense of having acquired knowledge, and ā€œconnaĆ®treā€ is to know as in to be familiar with… pretty vague if you ask me.

In fact, it’s much easier than that. What matters is what follows.

1 – To Know in French – Savoir Versus ConnaĆ®tre

A – Savoir: To Know + Question / Infinitive /Nothing

ā€œSavoirā€ is followed by an interrogative expression (où, pourquoi, qui, avec qui, quand, etc…):

  1. Tu sais où il habite ? Do you know where he lives?
  2. Savez-vous Ć  quelle heure ils arrivent ? Do you know what time they’re coming?
  3. Sais-tu pourquoi il a dit Ƨa ? Do you know why he said that?

ā€œSavoirā€ is followed by a verb, to say ā€œknowing how toā€¦ā€:

  • Je sais danser. I know how to dance.

And ā€œsavoirā€ can also be used alone.

  • Tu sais qu’il arrive Ć  3 heures? Oui, je sais.

B – ConnaĆ®tre: To Know + People / Places

ā€œConnaĆ®treā€ means ā€œto knowā€ with the idea to be personally familiar with, to have experienced it yourself.
It is always followed by a NOUN – it cannot be followed by anything else.

In most cases, ā€œconnaĆ®treā€ is followed by nouns of people and places.

  1. Tu connais Sylvie ? Do you know Sylvie ?
  2. Vous connaissez Paris ? Do you know Paris?

This is where the English speaker has to be careful.

When a French person says  ā€œEst-ce que vous connaissez Paris ?ā€, in most cases he/she doesn’t mean ā€œDo you know (of) Parisā€, but rather ā€œHave you personally been there?ā€.

Same with people; if you said ā€œJe connais Brad Pittā€, French speakers may think you have met him.

I have a funny story an American student told me. He was in Paris and met a lovely French woman in a bar, and started to speak with her. She didn’t speak any English, so he was speaking in French.

He said: ā€œJe viens de Boston. Vous connaissez Boston ?ā€
And the woman answered: ā€œNon.ā€
Then he said: ā€œCe n’est pas loin de New-York, vous connaissez New-York?ā€
And the woman answered: ā€œNon.ā€
He was a bit surprised but carried on: ā€œC’est aux Etats-Unis, vous connaissez les Ɖtats-Unis?ā€
And she answered ā€œNon.ā€
Puzzled, he thought to himself: ā€œCute, but not so smartā€¦ā€.

Of course, she understood he was asking her whether she had been there herself, not whether she knew where it was…

So, in my opinion, what is important in that lesson is not the basic rule to translate to know in French – it’s rather easy… ConnaĆ®tre + people / place… Savoir with all the rest! But the trick is to understand and know what to answer when someone asks: ā€œvous connaissez ….ā€.

On a related subject, you may be interested in my article about how to ask someone out on a date in French

2 – ConnaĆ®tre – to Know as to be Personally Acquainted With

So now, let’s see how you can answer questions like: ā€œEst-ce que vous connaissez Paris / GĆ©rard Depardieuā€ ?

The trick here is to understand the question: and this depends a bit on the context, the tone of the question.

  • ā€œEst-ce que vous connaissez Parisā€ almost always means ā€œhave you been there yourselfā€.
  • ā€œEst-ce que vous connaissez GĆ©rard Depardieuā€ā€¦ well, are you in the movie industry? In this case, it probably means ā€œhave you met him personallyā€.
    On the other hand, if you are just discussing movies, it’s more likely to mean ā€œdo you know who he is?ā€ – unless you said something before that could make believe that you actually knew him personally.
    So, with people the context is very important.
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3 – Answering a Question With ConnaĆ®tre in French

To answer a question with ā€œconnaĆ®treā€, you’ll probably need to switch verb, and use a verb a bit more precise than ā€œto knowā€:

  1. Est-ce que vous connaissez Paris ?
    Non, je n’y suis jamais allĆ©(e) – I’ve never been there.
    Oui, j’y suis allĆ©(e) il y a + time – Yes, I’ve been there… ago
  2. Est-ce que vous connaissez GƩrard Depardieu / Catherine Deneuve
    Oui, je le/la connais bien  ā€“ Yes, I know him/her well.
    Oui, je l’ai dĆ©jĆ  rencontrĆ©(e) – Yes I’ve already met him/her.
    Non, je ne l’ai jamais rencontrĆ©(e) – No, I’ve never met him/her

4 – More Q&A Using to Know in French

  1. Est-ce que vous connaissez Chenonceau (a gorgeous castle in the Loire Valley – see picture below)
    Non, mais j’en ai entendu parler – (I’ve never been there myself) but I’ve heard of it
    Je n’en ai jamais entendu parler – I’ve never heard of it.
  2. Est-ce que vous connaissez Sylvie/ Pierre ? (not a famous person, maybe a friend of mine)
    Non, mais j’ai entendu parler de lui / d’elle – (I have never met him/her personally) but I’ve heard about him / her
    Non, je n’ai jamais entendu parler de lui/d’elle – I’ve never heard about him/her
  3. Est-ce que tu sais qui c’est – Do you know who it is?
    Je sais qui c’est, mais je ne le/la connais pas personnellement – I know who it is, but I don’t know him/her personally.
  4. Est-ce que vous savez où c’est – Do you know where it is?
    Je sais où c’est, mais je n’y suis jamais allĆ©(e) – I know where it is, but I’ve never been there myself.
    Non, pas du tout – no not at all.

5 – Typical Dialogues With To Know in French

– ā€œVous connaissez Paris ?ā€
– ā€œOui, j’y suis allĆ©(e) il y a 3 ans.ā€
– Or ā€œnon, je n’y suis jamais allĆ©(e).ā€

– ā€œTu connais Anne ?ā€
– ā€œOui, je l’ai rencontrĆ©e chez Pierre.ā€
– ā€œNon, je ne la connais pas personnellement, mais je sais qui c’est. En fait, j’ai beaucoup entendu parler d’elle.ā€

6 – To Know + Noun in French

Now, all this being said, I have to admit that ā€œsavoirā€ can also be used with a noun. Never a person though.
When savoir is used with a noun, it has the meaning of to know as a result of having studying it. Most of the time, you can use ā€œconnaĆ®treā€ there as well (so why make your life difficult? Stick with connaĆ®tre + noun and you’ll be fine…)

  • Tu sais ta leƧon ? = tu connais ta leƧon ? = You know (you’ve studied) your leƧon.

7 – To Know by Heart in French

To say ā€œto know by heartā€, we say ā€œconnaĆ®tre par coeurā€.

ā€œSavoir par coeurā€ is also possible but for the reason mentioned above, I suggest you stick with ā€œconnaĆ®tre par coeurā€.

  • Tu connais ta leƧon ? Do you know your leƧon.
  • Oui, je la connais par coeur. Yes, I know it by heart.

Not that we also use the expression ā€œconnaĆ®tre quelqu’un par coeurā€: to know someone so well that you are not surprised by their action, or can predict what they’ll do:

  • Je savais trĆØs bien que tu allais venir quand mĆŖme… Je te connais par coeur !
    I knew very well you were still going to come… I know you by heart!

8 – To Know Men or Women… Bible like

In the Bible or older French text, you may find something like ā€œMarie n’avait pas connu d’hommeā€ (Mary didn’t know any man) – this meaning is sexual, it means she had not been with a man. We would not use that in modern French.

9 – Knowledge in French

Since you have two verbs, you’re going to have two nouns: honestly, to explain the difference is going to be very hard… Most of the time they are interchangeable, but I’ll try.

  • le savoir – is the knowledge you have acquired from learning something. We talk a lot about ā€œle savoir-faireā€ for artisans for example.
  • la connaissance – is inside you. It’s your own interpretation of a general knowledge. It’s the word commonly used for ā€œknowledgeā€.

VoilĆ , I hope you won’t hesitate to translate to know in French from now on.

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