El curador habla como si conociera al pintor.

Because como si normally triggers the imperfect subjunctive in Spanish.

So after como si (as if), Spanish usually uses forms like:

• como si conociera
• como si tuviera
• como si fuera

That is different from English, where learners may expect a normal present tense such as as if he knows. In Spanish, como si + imperfect subjunctive is the standard pattern.

So:

• El curador habla como si conociera al pintor. = The curator speaks as if he knew the painter / as if he knew the painter personally.

Using conoce here would sound ungrammatical in standard Spanish.

Como si means as if.

It introduces an unreal, hypothetical, or doubtful comparison. The idea is not that the speaker is confirming the curator really knows the painter. Instead, the speaker is saying that the curator speaks in a way that gives that impression.

So the sentence suggests something like:

• He talks as if he knew the painter.
• He sounds as though he knew the painter.

There is often an implied doubt: maybe he knows the painter, maybe he does not — but the sentence focuses on how he speaks, not on the truth of the relationship.

This is a very common question. Here, imperfect subjunctive does not mean past time in the usual sense.

After como si, Spanish uses the imperfect subjunctive as part of a fixed pattern for unreal or contrary-to-fact comparisons:

• Habla como si supiera todo.
• Me mira como si yo fuera culpable.
• Actúan como si tuvieran mucho dinero.

Even though the main verb can be present, the verb after como si still goes in the imperfect subjunctive.

So in this sentence:

• habla = present
• conociera = imperfect subjunctive, required by como si

It is more about mood than about actual past time.

Here it most naturally means knew.

In this sentence, conociera is not mainly expressing past time. It is part of the como si + imperfect subjunctive structure, so the best English translation is usually:

• as if he knew the painter

Depending on context, English might also say:

• as though he knew the painter

Spanish is not saying that he knew the painter in the past and no longer does. It is simply using the subjunctive pattern required by como si.

Because of the personal a.

In Spanish, when a direct object is a specific person, you usually put a before it:

• Conozco al pintor.
• Veo a María.
• Escuchamos al profesor.

Here, el pintor is a specific person, so Spanish uses a.

Then:

• a + el = al

So:

• a el pintor becomes al pintor

That is why the sentence says conociera al pintor.

Here conocer means to know in the sense of to be acquainted with or to know personally.

That is an important distinction:

• saber = to know a fact, information, how to do something
• conocer = to know a person, place, or be familiar with something

So:

• conocer al pintor = to know the painter
• not to know about the painter
• not to meet the painter in this sentence

However, in some contexts conocer can mean to meet for the first time:

• Conocí a Ana ayer. = I met Ana yesterday.

But in your sentence, the meaning is clearly know.

Yes. Conociera and conociese are both valid imperfect subjunctive forms.

So these mean the same thing:

• El curador habla como si conociera al pintor.
• El curador habla como si conociese al pintor.

In most of Latin America, the -ra form (conociera) is generally more common in everyday speech. The -se form (conociese) is correct but can sound a bit more formal or literary in some contexts.

For a learner of Latin American Spanish, conociera is the more useful default.

Not necessarily.

The sentence only says that the curator speaks as if he knew the painter. That means his way of speaking gives that impression.

Depending on context, the speaker may be implying:

• the curator probably does not know the painter, or
• the speaker is simply not confirming whether he knows him

So the sentence is about appearance or impression, not a direct statement of fact.

If you wanted to say clearly that he really knows the painter, you would say something like:

• El curador conoce al pintor. = The curator knows the painter.

Spanish often uses an article where English would not.

Here, El curador means The curator. If you are talking about a specific curator, Spanish normally includes the article.

You generally would not say just Curador habla... because that sounds incomplete or unnatural in standard Spanish.

Compare:

• El curador habla... = The curator speaks...
• Un curador habla... = A curator speaks...

Spanish usually needs that determiner unless another structure is being used.

A few natural translations are:

• The curator talks as if he knew the painter.
• The curator speaks as though he knew the painter.
• The curator talks as if he knew the painter personally.

The last one adds personally to bring out the meaning of conocer, although that word is not explicitly in the Spanish sentence.

If you want the most direct translation, use:

• The curator speaks as if he knew the painter.

Yes. This is a very productive pattern in Spanish:

como si + imperfect subjunctive

Examples:

• Habla como si fuera experto. = He talks as if he were an expert.

• Me miró como si no me conociera. = He looked at me as if he didn’t know me.

• Gastan dinero como si fueran millonarios. = They spend money as if they were millionaires.

• Actúas como si tuvieras razón siempre. = You act as if you were always right.

So the sentence you have is a very useful model for many similar expressions.