English collapses two very different mental relationships into the single verb to know. French keeps them apart. Savoir is the verb for facts, information, and learned skills — anything you can state, prove, or do. Connaître is the verb for acquaintance and familiarity — the relationship you have with a person you have met, a city you have visited, a song you have heard. Picking the wrong one rarely makes you incomprehensible, but it instantly marks you as a learner. Worse, in the passé composé both verbs change meaning entirely, and confusion there can produce real misunderstandings.
This page gives you the underlying logic, then drills the boundary cases where English speakers consistently slip.
The core distinction
Think of it this way. Savoir answers the question What do you know? — and the answer is a fact, a piece of information, a procedure, or a skill. Connaître answers the question Who/what are you acquainted with? — and the answer is always a noun referring to a person, place, work, or thing that you have direct experience of.
Je sais que Paris est la capitale de la France.
I know that Paris is the capital of France. (a fact — savoir)
Je connais Paris — j'y ai passé trois ans.
I know Paris — I spent three years there. (familiarity — connaître)
Notice that the same noun Paris takes different verbs depending on what kind of knowing is meant. With savoir, you state something about Paris. With connaître, you have direct, lived experience of the place itself.
Savoir: facts, how-to, information
Savoir has three main jobs. Learn to recognize each pattern and you will rarely hesitate.
1. Savoir + que (know that)
Used when you know a fact, a piece of information, a propositional statement.
Je sais qu'elle est en retard à cause du métro.
I know she's late because of the metro.
On savait déjà qu'il allait pleuvoir.
We already knew it was going to rain.
Tu sais que je t'aime, hein ?
You know I love you, right? (informal)
2. Savoir + infinitive (know how to)
This is the pattern English speakers most often miss. To say know how to do X in French, you do not add comment (how). You simply put the infinitive directly after savoir.
Je sais nager depuis l'âge de quatre ans.
I've known how to swim since I was four.
Tu sais conduire ?
Do you know how to drive?
Mon grand-père sait jouer du violon, du piano et de l'accordéon.
My grandfather knows how to play the violin, the piano, and the accordion.
Adding comment here is a classic transfer error: ❌ Je sais comment nager sounds like a translated sentence, not a French one. Drop the comment.
3. Savoir + interrogative (know wh-)
Use savoir with embedded questions: où, quand, comment, pourquoi, qui, ce que, combien. Whatever the question word, savoir is the verb.
Tu sais où sont les clés ?
Do you know where the keys are? (informal)
Je ne sais pas pourquoi il a réagi comme ça.
I don't know why he reacted that way.
On ne sait jamais ce qui peut arriver.
You never know what might happen.
Savoir without an object
Savoir can also stand alone, meaning to be aware or to be in the know.
— Marie est partie. — Oui, je sais.
'Marie has left.' 'Yes, I know.'
Va savoir !
Who knows! (literally 'go know' — set expression)
Connaître: acquaintance, familiarity
Connaître never takes a que-clause and never takes an infinitive. It takes a direct object — always a noun or pronoun — and means you have personal, experiential familiarity with the thing in question.
1. People
This is the cleanest case. To know a person is always connaître, never savoir.
Je connais ton frère depuis le lycée.
I've known your brother since high school.
Vous connaissez Mme Dupont ?
Do you know Mrs. Dupont? (formal)
Elle ne connaît personne dans cette ville.
She doesn't know anyone in this town.
2. Places
Cities, regions, countries, neighborhoods, restaurants, museums — anywhere you have been or are familiar with.
Tu connais un bon resto italien dans le quartier ?
Do you know a good Italian place in the neighborhood? (informal — 'resto' = restaurant)
Je ne connais pas du tout la Bretagne.
I'm not at all familiar with Brittany.
3. Works, songs, films, books
Anything you can have experienced — read, watched, listened to.
Tu connais cette chanson ? Elle passe partout en ce moment.
Do you know this song? It's everywhere right now.
Je connais ce film par cœur — j'ai dû le voir vingt fois.
I know this movie by heart — I must have seen it twenty times.
4. Subjects and topics (with a familiarity reading)
This is where the line gets subtle. I know a lot about wine uses connaître because it expresses familiarity with a domain. I know that wine is made from grapes uses savoir because it states a fact.
Il connaît bien le vin — c'est son métier.
He knows wine well — it's his profession.
Il sait que ce vin vient de Bordeaux.
He knows that this wine comes from Bordeaux.
The passé composé shift — critical
Here is where the two verbs do something English does not. In the passé composé, both savoir and connaître undergo an aspectual shift: they refer not to the state of knowing but to the moment of entering that state.
| Verb | Imparfait (state) | Passé composé (entry into state) |
|---|---|---|
| savoir | je savais — I knew | j'ai su — I found out, I learned |
| connaître | je connaissais — I knew (was acquainted with) | j'ai connu — I met for the first time |
This is not a quirk — it is the regular behavior of stative verbs in French. When you put a state verb into the passé composé, you naturally focus on the bounded entry into the state, because a passé composé requires a closed event.
J'ai su la nouvelle hier soir, par un coup de fil de ma sœur.
I found out the news last night, from a phone call from my sister.
Quand j'avais dix ans, je savais déjà tout sur les dinosaures.
When I was ten, I already knew everything about dinosaurs. (ongoing state — imparfait)
J'ai connu mon mari à un mariage en 2015.
I met my husband at a wedding in 2015.
Je connaissais Pierre bien avant qu'il devienne célèbre.
I knew Pierre well before he became famous. (acquaintance over time — imparfait)
This shift is genuinely difficult to internalize because English uses different verbs entirely (find out, meet) where French simply switches tense. See the dedicated page on this trap, savoir-passe-compose-meaning, for more drill.
Conjugations side by side
You will see both verbs constantly. Memorize the two present-tense paradigms together.
| Pronoun | savoir | connaître |
|---|---|---|
| je | sais | connais |
| tu | sais | connais |
| il/elle/on | sait | connaît |
| nous | savons | connaissons |
| vous | savez | connaissez |
| ils/elles | savent | connaissent |
A few notes. Savoir has an irregular present-subjunctive stem sach- (que je sache) and an unusual imperative (sache, sachons, sachez) used in literary or solemn contexts. Connaître keeps its circumflex on il connaît in traditional spelling; the 1990 reform optionally drops it (il connait), and you will see both. The whole -aître family conjugates this way: paraître, apparaître, disparaître, reconnaître.
Borderline and tricky cases
Even with the rules above, certain sentences can go either way. The choice then depends on the precise meaning you want.
Recognizing vs. knowing about
I know this song is connaître if you can hum it, savoir only with a fact: I know that this song was written in 1969.
Je connais cette chanson — c'est de Brassens.
I know this song — it's by Brassens. (familiarity)
Je sais que cette chanson a été écrite en 1968.
I know that this song was written in 1968. (fact)
Knowing a language
To say I know French in the sense of I can speak it, French uses neither savoir nor connaître as the natural choice — it uses parler: Je parle français. Saying je sais le français is grammatical but stilted; je connais le français sounds odd to most speakers and suggests acquaintance with the language as an object of study, not the ability to use it.
Elle parle couramment l'allemand et l'italien.
She speaks German and Italian fluently.
Je connais bien la grammaire française mais je la parle mal.
I know French grammar well but I speak it poorly. (acquaintance with grammar as a subject — connaître)
Knowing a recipe, a procedure, a poem
If you have memorized a poem and can recite it, the natural verb is connaître — you are acquainted with it. If you know how to do something — bake bread, fold a paper crane — the verb is savoir.
Elle connaît tous les poèmes de Baudelaire par cœur.
She knows all of Baudelaire's poems by heart.
Elle sait faire un pain au levain.
She knows how to make sourdough bread.
Common mistakes
The five errors below account for the vast majority of savoir/connaître slips by English speakers. Drill them until they sound automatically wrong.
❌ Je connais que tu es fatigué.
Incorrect — connaître never takes a que-clause.
✅ Je sais que tu es fatigué.
I know you're tired.
❌ Je sais Pierre depuis dix ans.
Incorrect — savoir cannot take a person as a direct object.
✅ Je connais Pierre depuis dix ans.
I've known Pierre for ten years.
❌ Je sais comment nager.
Incorrect — French savoir + infinitive does NOT take 'comment.'
✅ Je sais nager.
I know how to swim.
❌ J'ai connu Marie depuis vingt ans.
Incorrect — j'ai connu means 'I met,' not 'I have known.' For ongoing acquaintance, use présent + depuis.
✅ Je connais Marie depuis vingt ans.
I have known Marie for twenty years.
❌ Je connais cette ville bien — il y a un excellent musée.
Incorrect — adverb placement; bien goes after the verb in simple tenses, but the bigger issue is using connaître for a general statement of fact.
✅ Je connais bien cette ville — il y a un excellent musée.
I know this city well — there's an excellent museum.
Key takeaways
- Savoir = facts, how-to (with bare infinitive, no comment), wh-information.
- Connaître = personal acquaintance with people, places, works, domains. Always takes a noun.
- In the passé composé: j'ai su = I found out, j'ai connu = I met. For ongoing knowing, use the imparfait or, with depuis, the présent.
- When in doubt, ask: Am I stating a fact or describing familiarity? That single question resolves nearly every case.
Now practice French
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Start learning French→Related Topics
- Le Présent: Savoir (to know)A1 — The full paradigm of savoir, the French verb for knowing facts, knowing how to do something, and possessing information — and the crucial line that separates it from connaître.
- Le Présent: Connaître (to know / be familiar with)A1 — The full paradigm of connaître, the French verb for being acquainted with people, places, and works — including the famous circumflex on il connaît, and the entire -aître family that conjugates the same way.
- Savoir, Connaître, IgnorerA2 — English 'to know' splits into two French verbs that are not interchangeable. Savoir = know facts, information, and how to do things. Connaître = be acquainted with people, places, and works. Ignorer = formal 'not know.' Master this trio and you have unlocked one of the most important lexical distinctions in French.
- Savoir au Passé Composé: 'I learned'B1 — Why 'j'ai su' means 'I found out' (not 'I knew') — and the parallel meaning shifts in connaître, pouvoir, vouloir, and devoir between imparfait and passé composé.
- Savoir: Full Verb ReferenceA1 — Savoir is one of the two French verbs for to know — the one for facts, information, and learned skills. This page is the full reference: every paradigm (with the irregular sache- subjunctive and the sau- futur), the savoir/connaître contrast, the aspectual shift in passé composé, and the major idioms.
- Connaître: Full Verb ReferenceA1 — Connaître is the verb for being acquainted with people, places, and works of art — the second French verb for to know, alongside savoir. This page is the full reference: every paradigm (with the famous circumflex on the third-person singular), the savoir/connaître contrast, the aspectual shift to met in the passé composé, and the family of derivatives in -aître.