Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Agradezco haber sabido la verdad a tiempo. - I am grateful to have known the truth in time.

Agradezco haber sabido la verdad a tiempo.
Literally: “I thank (for) having known the truth in time.”
Here agradezco is an active verb: you are actively expressing thanks or appreciation for something specific.
Estoy agradecido por haber sabido la verdad a tiempo.
Literally: “I am grateful for having known the truth in time.”
Here estoy agradecido is an adjective phrase, describing your state or feeling of gratitude.

In everyday Spanish (including Spain), agradezco + [thing] is very common and natural when you’re focusing on the specific thing you’re thankful for. Estoy agradecido sounds a bit more formal or reflective, and it focuses more on your emotional state than on the act of thanking.

Why is there no “por” after agradezco? In English I’d say “I’m grateful for having known…”.

In Spanish, agradecer is normally used without “por” when you directly mention the thing you are thankful for:

Agradezco tu ayuda. – I appreciate your help.
Te agradezco el regalo. – I thank you for the gift.

So here:

Agradezco haber sabido la verdad a tiempo.
The whole phrase “haber sabido la verdad a tiempo” is the direct object of agradezco.

You can see por with agradecer in some varieties and colloquial speech (“Te agradezco por todo”), but in standard Peninsular Spanish the most natural form is simply:

Agradezco X (no por).

What exactly is “haber sabido”? Why not just “saber”?

Haber sabido is the perfect infinitive:

haber (infinitive of “to have” as an auxiliary)
- sabido (past participle of saber)

It’s used to talk about an action that happened before the main verb:

Agradezco (I am thankful now )
haber sabido la verdad a tiempo (for the fact that before now I found out / knew the truth in time)

If you used the simple infinitive saber, it would sound wrong in this meaning:

✗ Agradezco saber la verdad a tiempo.
This sounds like an ongoing or general fact (“I appreciate knowing the truth in time”); it doesn’t fit the idea of “I’m glad I found out in time.”

So haber sabido = “to have known / to have found out,” matching the completed nature of the action.

Why is it “haber sabido” and not “he sabido”?

He sabido is a finite verb form (first person singular, present perfect):

Yo he sabido – I have known / found out.

After another verb (like agradezco), Spanish usually needs an infinitive, not a finite form:

Agradezco haber sabido… – I’m thankful to have known…

You cannot say:

✗ Agradezco he sabido la verdad a tiempo.

So:

he sabido = stands as its own main verb (“I have known / I found out”)
haber sabido = infinitive phrase used as a noun-like complement to another verb (“to have known / having known”).

Can I say “Agradezco que he sabido la verdad a tiempo” instead?

No, that sounds wrong. With agradecer + que-clause, you normally need the subjunctive, and the tense choice matters:

If the subject is the same (you), there are two common patterns:

Use the perfect infinitive (as in your sentence):
- Agradezco haber sabido la verdad a tiempo.
Or use que + subjunctive (but then you must use subjunctive):
- Agradezco que haya sabido la verdad a tiempo.
  (Grammatically possible, but sounds quite formal and less common in everyday speech with the same subject.)

What you cannot do is:

✗ Agradezco que he sabido la verdad a tiempo.

Because after agradecer que, Spanish expects a subjunctive form (haya sabido, not he sabido).

When should I use “haber + participle” vs “que + subjunctive” after agradecer?

It depends mostly on whether the subject is the same in both parts.

Same subject (I am thankful that I did something):
- Most natural: agradecer + infinitive (or perfect infinitive)
  - Agradezco haber sabido la verdad a tiempo.
    “I’m thankful (to have known) the truth in time.”
- More formal/literary: agradecer que + subjunctive
  - Agradezco que haya sabido la verdad a tiempo.
Different subjects (I am thankful that you / they did something):
- You use que + subjunctive:
  - Te agradezco que me hayas dicho la verdad a tiempo.
    I thank you for having told me the truth in time.

So your sentence uses the same-subject + perfect infinitive structure, very natural and common.

Why is the verb in the present (agradezco) if what I’m thankful for happened in the past?

Spanish is focusing on when you feel grateful, not when the event happened.

Agradezco – Right now, in the present, I feel gratitude.
haber sabido la verdad a tiempo – The event itself happened earlier.

This is very similar to English:

“I am grateful to have known the truth in time.”
(I’m grateful now, for something that happened before.)

If you wanted to talk about your gratitude at some point in the past, you could change the tense:

Ayer agradecí haber sabido la verdad a tiempo.
Yesterday I was thankful for having known the truth in time.

What’s the nuance of “saber” here? Could I use “conocer” instead?

No, conocer doesn’t work here. In this context:

saber la verdad = to know / find out the truth (to be informed of it)
conocer is used for being familiar with people, places, or things firsthand:
- conozco a María – I know María.
- conozco Madrid – I know Madrid / I’m familiar with Madrid.

So:

haber sabido la verdad a tiempo = having found out / known the truth in time.
This is about becoming aware of information, so saber is correct; conocer would sound wrong.

Why is it “la verdad” and not just “verdad” (without “la”)?

In Spanish, when you refer to “the truth” in a specific or general but concrete sense, you almost always use the definite article:

la verdad – the truth (as a specific fact or as a concept)

Saying just verdad here would feel incomplete or unnatural:

✗ Agradezco haber sabido verdad a tiempo.

Compare:

Supe la verdad. – I found out the truth.
Quiero saber la verdad. – I want to know the truth.

The article la is required in this kind of usage.

What does “a tiempo” mean exactly, and could I say it another way?

A tiempo means “in time, early enough, before it was too late.”

In your sentence:

haber sabido la verdad a tiempo = to have known/found out the truth soon enough to do something about it, avoid a problem, etc.

You could rephrase in other ways, depending on context:

haber sabido la verdad a tiempo para reaccionar – in time to react
haber sabido la verdad a tiempo de cambiar las cosas – in time to change things

But a tiempo by itself is a very natural, concise way to express “in time / on time” in general contexts.

Can I move the words around, like “Agradezco haber sabido a tiempo la verdad”?

Yes, that word order is possible and grammatically correct, but:

Agradezco haber sabido la verdad a tiempo.
is more neutral and slightly more natural in everyday speech.

Spanish word order is somewhat flexible. Moving a tiempo earlier (haber sabido a tiempo la verdad) gives it a bit more emphasis on the “in time” part, but it doesn’t really change the core meaning. For most contexts, the original order is preferable.

Could I replace “haber sabido la verdad” with a pronoun, like “haberlo sabido”?

Yes, if the context already made clear what “lo” refers to.

Agradezco haberlo sabido a tiempo.
“I’m thankful to have known it in time.”

Here:

lo = some previously mentioned fact (e.g. “lo que pasó”, “ese secreto”).

If you specifically want to refer to “la verdad”, you could use la:

Agradezco haberla sabido a tiempo.

But in practice:

People more often use lo when referring to “the truth” as “that fact” / “that thing” already mentioned:
- Agradezco haberlo sabido a tiempo.

If you mention “la verdad” explicitly in the same sentence, you normally don’t also replace it with a pronoun there; you choose one or the other:

Agradezco haber sabido la verdad a tiempo.
Agradezco haberlo sabido a tiempo.

Is this sentence specifically “Spain Spanish”, or would it sound different in Latin America?

The sentence:

Agradezco haber sabido la verdad a tiempo.

is perfectly standard and would be understood and accepted in Spain and Latin America.

The main difference in Spain vs. many Latin American varieties is not in this structure but in some other habits:

In Spain, agradecer without por (as in your sentence) is clearly preferred.
In some Latin American speech, you may more often hear things like “Te agradezco por todo”, although “Te agradezco todo” is also correct.

But your exact sentence is fine and natural in both.