Learn French: Je connais bien Paris, mais je ne connais pas cette rue célèbre. - I know Paris well, but I don't know this famous street.

Je connais bien Paris, mais je ne connais pas cette rue célèbre.

I know Paris well, but I don't know this famous street.

Breakdown of Je connais bien Paris, mais je ne connais pas cette rue célèbre.

not (used before the verb)

Questions & Answers about Je connais bien Paris, mais je ne connais pas cette rue célèbre.

Why do we use connais in this sentence instead of sais?

Both savoir and connaître mean "to know," but they are used differently. We use connaître (which becomes connais for "je") when talking about being familiar with a person, place, or thing. Since Paris and a street are both places, connaître is the correct choice here. You would use savoir for knowing a fact or knowing how to do something.

Why is bien placed before Paris? In English we say "I know Paris well."

In French, short adverbs like bien (well) usually go directly after the conjugated verb. So instead of putting it at the end of the sentence like in English, French puts it right after the verb: Je connais bien Paris.

Why do we use cette before rue?

The word rue (street) is feminine. To say "this" or "that" before a feminine noun, you must use the feminine demonstrative adjective cette. If the noun were masculine, you would use ce (or cet if it started with a vowel sound).

Why does célèbre come after rue?

Most descriptive adjectives in French, like célèbre (famous), are placed after the noun they describe. Only a specific small group of common adjectives (usually describing Beauty, Age, Goodness, or Size, often remembered by the acronym "BAGS") go before the noun.