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### The two ways "to know": sapere and conoscere

English uses the verb "to know" for everything: knowing a fact, knowing a person, and knowing how to do something. Italian splits this job between two different verbs: **sapere** and **conoscere**.

Let's look at how they differ, especially when navigating professional environments like a job interview.

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### Sapere: Facts and Abilities

Use **sapere** when you know a *fact* or a piece of information. When used for facts, it is often followed by question words (where, what time, who).

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**Sapere** is also used to express an ability—knowing *how* to do something. When used this way, it is followed directly by an infinitive verb.

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When stating a known fact using a full clause, **sapere** pairs with the conjunction **che** (that).

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### Conoscere: Familiarity with People, Places, and Things

Use **conoscere** when you are acquainted or familiar with a person, a place, or a thing. 

Unlike *sapere*, **conoscere** is always followed by a direct object (a noun or a pronoun). It is never followed by a verb or a *che* clause.

Use it when talking about knowing people:

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You also use **conoscere** to express your familiarity with things, professional concepts, or fields of study (like a resume, an industry, or a branch of knowledge):

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Knowing facts vs. knowing people (sapere, conoscere)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
candidate	il candidato
interview	il colloquio
The candidate is waiting for the interview.	Il candidato sta aspettando il colloquio.
Do you know what time the interview is?	Sai a che ora è il colloquio?
Nobody knows the new candidate.	Nessuno conosce il nuovo candidato.
resume / CV	il curriculum
I read your resume and I know your experience.	Ho letto il tuo curriculum e conosco la tua esperienza.
Do you know how to write a resume?	Sai scrivere un curriculum?
expert	esperto
skill / competence	la competenza
We are looking for an expert with this skill.	Cerchiamo un esperto con questa competenza.
that (conjunction introducing a clause)	che
sector / industry	il settore
I know that you have a lot of skill in the sector.	So che hai molta competenza nel settore.
I know this sector well because I have been working in it for years.	Conosco bene questo settore perché ci lavoro da anni.
The man who works here is an expert.	L'uomo che lavora qui è un esperto.
IT / computer science	l'informatica
She knows IT very well.	Lei conosce molto bene l'informatica.
We are looking for someone expert in IT.	Cerchiamo qualcuno di esperto in informatica.
foreign	straniero
international	internazionale
Do you know how to speak a foreign language?	Sai parlare una lingua straniera?
to hire	assumere
The company wants to hire a foreign candidate.	L'azienda vuole assumere un candidato straniero.
We know that the director wants to hire the candidate.	Sappiamo che il direttore vuole assumere il candidato.
contact	il contatto
How many contacts do you have in this sector? I have many of them.	Quanti contatti hai in questo settore? Ne ho molti.
I do not know any of your contacts.	Non conosco nessuno dei tuoi contatti.
I work for an international company.	Lavoro per un'azienda internazionale.
Our company is international: it has offices in ten countries.	La nostra azienda è internazionale: ha uffici in dieci paesi.

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