Spanish Verbs Saber and Conocer: Preterite Tense
In this lesson, you will learn when to use conocer and saber since both mean ‘to know’ in English. You will also learn how to conjugate these verbs in the preterite tense.
How to Use Conocer and Saber
In English, we use the same word ‘to know’ to express two different concepts. In Spanish, these two concepts are distinguished with the verbs ‘conocer’ and ‘saber’.
Conocer expresses acquaintance with people, places, and things. I met (conocer) Jorge. I am familiar with (conocer) Chicago, Illinois. Are you familiar with (conocer) the author Miguel de Cervantes? To know (conocer) a person requires the personal ‘a’. For example: Yo conocí a Jorge.
Saber is used to express knowledge or facts, how to do something, and a capability, like speaking Spanish. Interrogative expressions like quién, qué, dónde, cuándo, por qué, and cómo imply facts and require the use of ‘saber’. Yo supe dónde estaba el archivo. Él supo cuándo es la cita.
How to Conjugate Conocer and Saber
Did you notice ‘saber’ is an irregular verb in the preterite? ‘Conocer’ is not irregular in the preterite but it is irregular in the present tense (yo conozco). It is important to memorize how to conjugate these verbs, especially their irregular forms. Today, we will focus on conjugating ‘conocer’ and ‘saber’ in the preterite.
Preterite of Conocer
yo conocí
tú conociste
él/ella/Ud. conoció
nosotros conocimos
vosotros conocisteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. conocieron
Listen to these sentences about knowing a person, place, or thing. (Please see the video beginning at 02:20 to hear these sentences.)
1. Yo conocí New York City.
2. Tú conociste mi página web?
3. Ella conoció a mi madre.
4. Nosotros conocimos al jefe nuevo ayer.
5. Vosotros conocisteis Washington, D.C.
6. Ellos no conocieron al antiguo jefe.
Preterite of Saber
yo supe
tú supiste
él/ella/Ud. supo
nosotros supimos
vosotros supisteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. supieron
Listen to these example sentences relating to the knowledge of facts. (Please see the video beginning at 03:27 to hear these sentences.)
1. Yo supe cómo descargar los archivos en la computadora vieja.
2. Tú supiste la contraseña.
3. Él supo cómo imprimir ese día pero ya lo olvidó.
4. Nosotros supimos cómo instalar el programa.
5. Vosotros supisteis cómo buscar un archivo.
6. Ustedes no supieron cómo crear una página web.
Practice
Let’s practice conjugating these verbs and distinguishing when to use each. Fill in the blanks below with the correct verb (conocer or saber) in the preterite tense and the correct conjugation.
1. Él _____ cómo usar el mouse, el teclado y la impresora.
Él supo cómo usar el mouse, el teclado y la impresora.
He knew how to use the mouse, keyboard, and the printer.
2. Yo _____ diferentes marcas de computadores.
Yo conocí diferentes marcas de computadores.
I was familiar with different brands of computers.
3. Yo _____ cómo enviar un correo electrónico.
Yo supe cómo enviar un correo electrónico.
I knew how to send an email.
4. Ellos _____ varias páginas web.
Ellos conocieron varias páginas web.
They were familiar with various web pages.
5. Ella _____ las contraseñas.
Ella supo las contraseñas.
She knew the passwords.
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