Saber and Conocer

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Saber and Conocer
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• Both saber and conocer mean to know. But
  before we look at the difference, lets look at
  the conjugation of these two verbs, since both
  are irregular in the first person singular.
• If I ask you how to say, I know, you might not
  know. But if I ask you how to say, I dont
  know, you probably remember that from high
  school (if you had Spanish)
• No sé.

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• Heres the conjugation of saber
• sé sabemos
• sabes sabéis
• sabe saben
• And heres the conjugation of conocer
• conozco conocemos
• conoces conocéis
• conoce conocen
• Note that only the first person singular form is
  irregular.

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• Saber and conocer arent nearly as hard as ser
  and estar.
• Conocer means to know a person.
• Conozco a tus padres. I know your parents.
• Conozco a Juan. I know Juan.
• Lo conozco. I know him.
• Conozco al médico. I know the doctor.
• Whats that pesky little a doing in there?
  Well get to that in a minute.

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• Conocer also means to be familiar with a place
• Conozco Atlanta. -- Im familiar with Atlanta.
• I know Atlanta.
• Conozco el país. Im familiar with the country.
• I know the country.
• Conozco los jardines botánicos. Im familiar
• with the botanical gardens.
• I know the
• botanical gardens.

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• Saber means to know information.
• Sé la fecha. I know the date.
• Sé tu número de teléfono. I know your phone
  number.
• No sé si vienen. I dont know if theyre
  coming.
• Sé que estudias mucho. I know you study a lot.
• Sé dónde vives. I know where you live.
• Sé quién es el presidente. -- I know who the
  president
• 
  is.

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• Warning, warning, warning!!!!!!!!!

Students tend to confuse I know who he is Sé
quién es. with I know him.
Lo conozco. Theres a big difference between
I know who the U.S. president is
and
I know the U.S. president. One is
information the other is actually knowing the
person.
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• In summary
• Conocer means to know a person or be familiar
  with a place.
• Saber means to know information or to know how
  to do something.

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• Remember that a that appeared with conocer
  sometimes?
• Conozco a tus padres. I know your parents.
• Conozco a Juan. I know Juan.
• Conozco al médico. I know the doctor.
• Note that theres no a in these sentences
• Conozco Atlanta. -- Im familiar with Atlanta.
• Conozco el país. Im familiar with the country.
• Conozco los jardines botánicos. Im familiar
  with the
• 
  botanical gardens.
• Whenever the direct object is a person, you get
  a in front of it. If its a thing rather than
  a person, theres no a. This happens not just
  with conocer but with ANY verb, with the
  exception of tener
• Ves a tu hermano.
• Ayudo a mis amigos.
• Necesita a su madre.
• Tengo una hermana.

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