English uses one verb, "to know", for two very different things — knowing a fact and being acquainted with a person — and Romanian splits them: a ști is for facts, information, and skills; a cunoaște is for people, places, and familiarity. Știu adevărul ("I know the truth") versus O cunosc pe Maria ("I know Maria"). If you can know it as data — a piece of information, that something is the case, or how to do something — it's a ști. If you are acquainted or familiar with it — a person, a city, a subject you've studied — it's a cunoaște.
a ști = facts, information, know-how
A ști takes information as its object. That information can come in three shapes: a noun standing for a piece of knowledge (adevărul, răspunsul, ora), a că-clause reporting a fact, or a să-clause expressing a skill ("know how to").
Știu adevărul, mi-a spus el totul.
I know the truth, he told me everything.
Știi cât e ceasul?
Do you know what time it is?
Știu că vine mâine, mi-a scris aseară.
I know (that) he's coming tomorrow, he wrote to me last night.
Știu să înot, dar nu știu să schiez.
I know how to swim, but I don't know how to ski.
Note the last sentence: "know how to" is a ști + să + subjunctive. This is the standard way to express a learned skill. A cunoaște can never do this — you cannot say cunosc să înot.
a cunoaște = people, places, acquaintance
A cunoaște takes a person, place, or domain as its object and means "be acquainted/familiar with". With people, Romanian marks the direct object with the preposition pe and doubles it with a clitic (o, îl, îi, le) — the standard treatment of definite human objects.
O cunosc pe Maria de zece ani.
I've known Maria for ten years.
Cunosc Bucureștiul ca pe propriul buzunar.
I know Bucharest like the back of my hand.
Cunoști un restaurant bun prin zonă?
Do you know a good restaurant around here?
Cunosc bine subiectul, am scris teza pe tema asta.
I know the subject well, I wrote my thesis on this topic.
Two things to notice. First, Bucureștiul — a place — takes a cunoaște because "knowing a city" is familiarity, not a fact. Second, cunosc bine subiectul means deep familiarity with a field; a ști would shift the sense toward merely "knowing the answer". Romanian uses a cunoaște for the kind of knowledge you build up through exposure and study.
The crucial contrast: facts vs people
The error English speakers make most is using a ști for a person, because in English "I know him" and "I know the answer" use the identical verb. In Romanian the object type decides:
Știu răspunsul. / O cunosc pe profesoară.
I know the answer. / I know the teacher. (fact = a ști; person = a cunoaște)
Nu știu unde locuiește, dar îl cunosc de mult.
I don't know where he lives, but I've known him for a long time. (one clause is a fact → a ști; the other is acquaintance → a cunoaște)
That second sentence is the whole distinction in one breath: nu știu unde locuiește (a fact you lack) sits right next to îl cunosc de mult (a person you're acquainted with).
Decision flowchart
| Object of "know"… | Verb | Construction | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| a fact / piece of information | a ști |
| Știu adevărul. |
| that something is the case | a ști |
| Știu că vine. |
| how to do something (skill) | a ști |
| Știu să gătesc. |
| a person | a cunoaște |
| O cunosc pe Ana. |
| a place / city | a cunoaște |
| Cunosc orașul. |
| a field / subject (familiarity) | a cunoaște |
| Cunosc domeniul. |
Why two verbs — the savoir/connaître split
This is the same division French makes between savoir and connaître, Spanish between saber and conocer, German between wissen and kennen. Romance and Germanic languages broadly agree that propositional knowledge ("knowing that / knowing how") and acquaintance knowledge ("being familiar with") are different mental relations, and they give each its own verb. English is the odd one out for collapsing them into a single "know". So the leap for an English speaker is not learning a weird rule — it's learning to hear a distinction English ignores. Once you ask "is this a fact I hold, or a person/place I'm familiar with?", the verb chooses itself.
A useful side note: a cunoaște is also the verb for "recognizing" or "knowing" in the sense of having experienced something — a cunoscut multe greutăți ("he has known many hardships"). That, too, is acquaintance-knowledge, not factual data.
Common Mistakes
❌ Știu pe Maria de mult timp.
Incorrect — a person takes a cunoaște + pe, not a ști.
✅ O cunosc pe Maria de mult timp.
I've known Maria for a long time.
❌ Îl știu pe directorul nostru personal.
Incorrect — 'I know him' (a person) is Îl cunosc, never Îl știu.
✅ Îl cunosc personal pe directorul nostru.
I know our director personally.
❌ Cunosc că pleacă mâine.
Incorrect — a fact reported with că takes a ști.
✅ Știu că pleacă mâine.
I know (that) he's leaving tomorrow.
❌ Cunosc să gătesc destul de bine.
Incorrect — a skill ('know how to') always takes a ști + să.
✅ Știu să gătesc destul de bine.
I know how to cook quite well.
❌ Știu Bucureștiul foarte bine.
Incorrect — familiarity with a place takes a cunoaște.
✅ Cunosc Bucureștiul foarte bine.
I know Bucharest very well.
Key Takeaways
- a ști = factual/propositional knowledge and skills: Știu adevărul, Știu că vine, Știu să înot.
- a cunoaște = acquaintance/familiarity with people, places, and fields: O cunosc pe Maria, Cunosc orașul, Cunosc subiectul.
- People take a cunoaște
- pe
- a doubling clitic: Îl cunosc, O cunosc. "I know him" is never Îl știu.
- pe
- It's the same savoir/connaître split as French, Spanish, and German — English is the outlier with one verb.
Now practice Romanian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- că vs să (Complementizers)A2 — The factivity test that decides between că and să — că introduces facts you assert or report (Știu că vine, with the indicative), să introduces actions you want, command, fear, or treat as uncertain (Vreau să vină, with the subjunctive).
- să-Subjunctive vs InfinitiveB1 — When to chain verbs with the să-subjunctive (Vreau să plec) and the narrow set of cases where Romanian still uses the bare infinitive — almost exclusively after prepositions (pentru a reuși, fără a ști) and after a putea.
- The Conjunctiv (să-Subjunctive): OverviewA2 — An introduction to Romanian's most important feature — the să + verb construction that replaces the infinitive after want, can, and must.
- Relative Pronoun care (who, which, that)B1 — care is the all-purpose Romanian relative pronoun covering English who, which, and that — invariable as a subject (omul care vine), but a direct object takes pe care plus a doubling clitic (cartea pe care o citesc), and possession uses the inflected genitive a cărui / a cărei / ale căror and the dative căruia / căreia / cărora.
- The Definite Article: Masculine (-ul, -le)A1 — How the enclitic definite article attaches to masculine and neuter singular nouns — -ul after a consonant, -l after final -u, -le after final -e — and why the choice is phonologically predictable.