Savoir Conjugation: All Tenses, Uses and Examples (With Audio)

By Ginny Jackson Published: February 12, 2021

Updated October 2026 · Reviewed by Frederic Bibard · 10 min read

Savoir means “to know” a fact or “to know how” to do something. Every tense and mood, with examples, audio, the savoir or connaître rule and a 10-question exercise.

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The short answer

Savoir means “to know” a fact, or “to know how” to do something. Present: je sais, tu sais, il sait, nous savons, vous savez, ils savent. Past participle: su (j’ai su, “I found out”). Future: je saurai. Subjunctive: que je sache. For people and places, use connaître.

Below you will find the meaning, the main uses of savoir, the difference with connaître, and every tense and mood with examples and audio. A 10-question exercise at the end checks what you remember.

What does savoir mean?

The French verb savoir means “to know”: to know a fact, a piece of information, or how to do something. Je sais où il habite means “I know where he lives”, and Elle sait nager means “She knows how to swim”.

Savoir is an irregular verb ending in -oir. It belongs to the third group and does not follow the regular -ir pattern of verbs such as finir. Its compound tenses use avoir and its past participle is su, so once you know the present, the compound tenses are easy.

Uses of SAVOIR

Because savoir is irregular, you have to learn its forms rather than build them from a pattern. Learn how it is used first, then the tables. Savoir has four main uses.

To know a fact or a piece of information. Il sait mon adresse (He knows my address). Je ne sais pas (I don’t know).
To know how to do something, with an infinitive. Je sais danser (I know how to dance).
In the passé composé, to find something out. Ah oui, je l’ai su hier (Oh yes, I found that out yesterday).
In the conditionnel, to say “could” or “would be able to”. Je saurais cacher ma colère (I would be able to hide my anger).

Savoir is also followed by a question word or que: Savez-vous quelle heure il est ? (Do you know what time it is?), Je sais que tu as raison (I know that you are right).

Savoir or connaître?

Both verbs can translate as “to know”. They are not interchangeable.

Use savoir for facts, information and skills: Je sais où il habite. Elle sait nager.
Use connaître for people, places and things you are familiar with: Je connais Marie. Tu connais Lyon ?
A quick test: if “know” is followed by that, how, where or if, you probably need savoir. If it is followed by a person or a place, you need connaître.
If you have studied Spanish, it is the same split as saber and conocer.

Some uses overlap, so treat this as a starting point. For the full explanation, with more examples and the tricky cases, read savoir vs connaître.

Conjugation of SAVOIR

Remember that different spellings often sound the same in French, so learn the spelling as well as the sound. Listening while you read helps.

Savoir uses five stems. Knowing them makes the tables easier to learn:

sai- in the singular present: je sais, tu sais, il sait
sav- in the plural present and the imparfait: nous savons, je savais
sau- in the futur and the conditionnel: je saurai, je saurais
sach- in the present subjunctive, the imperative and the present participle: que je sache, sache, sachant
su in the past participle and the passé simple: j’ai su, je sus

Let’s review the conjugation of savoir, starting with the indicative mood.

How to conjugate SAVOIR in the present tense (Présent)

English has the present simple (“I know”) and the present continuous (“I am knowing”). French has one present, le présent, for both. With savoir only the simple meaning is used: “I am knowing” does not sound right in English either.

Je saisI know
Tu saisYou know
Il / elle saitHe / she knows
Nous savonsWe know
Vous savezYou know
Ils / elles saventThey know

Hear all six forms:

Tu sais comment compter. – You know how to count.
Comment savez-vous ? – How do you know?
Je ne sais pas. – I don’t know.

How to conjugate SAVOIR in the Imparfait

The imperfect describes something that was true over a period of time in the past. In English we say “I knew” or “I used to know”. With savoir the sense of continuation is already in the verb.

It uses the stem sav- from nous savons, with the endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.

When choosing between the imparfait and the passé composé, think about how you present the past situation. Je savais describes knowing as a background state; j’ai su often describes finding something out or a completed instance of knowing. How long ago it happened does not decide the tense.

Je savaisI knew
Tu savaisYou knew
Il / elle savaitHe / she knew
Nous savionsWe knew
Vous saviezYou knew
Ils / elles savaientThey knew

Hear all six forms:

Nous savions qu’il viendrait. – We knew he would come.

How to conjugate SAVOIR in the Futur

The future says what you will know. It is the trickiest of the common tenses: the endings are the regular ones, but the stem is sau-, not savoir.

Je sauraiI will know
Tu saurasYou will know
Il / elle sauraHe / she will know
Nous sauronsWe will know
Vous saurezYou will know
Ils / elles saurontThey will know

Hear all six forms:

Je saurai la réponse demain. – I will know the answer tomorrow.

The near future (futur proche) is regular: je vais savoir, tu vas savoir, il va savoir, nous allons savoir, vous allez savoir, ils vont savoir.

How to conjugate SAVOIR in the Passé Composé

The passé composé uses avoir and the past participle su. In a completed past event, savoir often means “find out” or “learn”: J’ai su la nouvelle hier (I found out the news yesterday). It can also mean “I knew” at one precise moment: J’ai tout de suite su qu’il mentait (I knew straight away that he was lying). The exact translation depends on context.

J’ai suI found out
Tu as suYou found out
Il / elle a suHe / she found out
Nous avons suWe found out
Vous avez suYou found out
Ils / elles ont suThey found out

Hear all six forms:

J’ai su la nouvelle hier. – I found out the news yesterday.

When choosing between j’ai su and je savais, think about discovery or a completed event versus a background state. The distinction is not simply whether the knowledge was short-lived.

Agreement: with avoir, the participle agrees with a direct object placed before the verb. La nouvelle ? Je l’ai sue hier. (The news? I found it out yesterday.)

How to conjugate SAVOIR in the Passé Simple

The passé simple is a literary past tense. You will meet it in novels and formal writing, not in conversation.

Je susI found out
Tu susYou found out
Il / elle sutHe / she found out
Nous sûmesWe found out
Vous sûtesYou found out
Ils / elles surentThey found out

How to conjugate SAVOIR in the Plus-que-Parfait

J’avais suI had known
Tu avais suYou had known
Il / elle avait suHe / she had known
Nous avions suWe had known
Vous aviez suYou had known
Ils / elles avaient suThey had known

How to conjugate SAVOIR in the Passé Antérieur

Another literary tense, used in writing after quand, dès que or lorsque with the passé simple.

J’eus suI had known
Tu eus suYou had known
Il / elle eut suHe / she had known
Nous eûmes suWe had known
Vous eûtes suYou had known
Ils / elles eurent suThey had known

How to conjugate SAVOIR in the Futur Antérieur

J’aurai suI will have known
Tu auras suYou will have known
Il / elle aura suHe / she will have known
Nous aurons suWe will have known
Vous aurez suYou will have known
Ils / elles auront suThey will have known

How to conjugate SAVOIR in the Subjunctive mood (Subjonctif)

The subjunctive is used after expressions of wish, doubt and necessity, and after certain other constructions: Il faut que tu saches la réponse (You need to know the answer). Having two different subjects does not by itself require the subjunctive. The stem is sach-.

Présent

que je sachethat I know
que tu sachesthat you know
qu’il / elle sachethat he / she knows
que nous sachionsthat we know
que vous sachiezthat you know
qu’ils / elles sachentthat they know

Hear all six forms:

Il faut que tu saches la vérité. – You need to know the truth.

For more on when to use it, read French subjunctive: 5 things you need to know.

Imparfait

The imparfait and plus-que-parfait of the subjunctive are literary. You will see them in novels, not hear them.

que je sussethat I knew
que tu sussesthat you knew
qu’il / elle sûtthat he / she knew
que nous sussionsthat we knew
que vous sussiezthat you knew
qu’ils / elles sussentthat they knew

Passé

que j’aie suthat I knew
que tu aies suthat you knew
qu’il / elle ait suthat he / she knew
que nous ayons suthat we knew
que vous ayez suthat you knew
qu’ils / elles aient suthat they knew

Plus-que-Parfait

que j’eusse suthat I had known
que tu eusses suthat you had known
qu’il / elle eût suthat he / she had known
que nous eussions suthat we had known
que vous eussiez suthat you had known
qu’ils / elles eussent suthat they had known

How to conjugate SAVOIR in the Conditional Mood (Conditionnel)

The conditional says what someone would know in a hypothetical situation: Je saurais la réponse si j’avais le livre (I would know the answer if I had the book). It uses the same sau- stem as the future, with the imperfect endings.

Présent

Je sauraisI would know
Tu sauraisYou would know
Il / elle sauraitHe / she would know
Nous saurionsWe would know
Vous sauriezYou would know
Ils / elles sauraientThey would know

Hear all six forms:

Je saurais la réponse si j’avais le livre. – I would know the answer if I had the book.
Je ne saurais vous dire. – I couldn’t tell you. (polite, a little formal)

Passé

J’aurais suI would have known
Tu aurais suYou would have known
Il / elle aurait suHe / she would have known
Nous aurions suWe would have known
Vous auriez suYou would have known
Ils / elles auraient suThey would have known

How to conjugate SAVOIR in the Imperative Mood (Impératif)

The imperative uses the sach- stem. It is mostly found in Sachez que… (Be aware that…), a polite way to give information: Sachez que le magasin ferme à dix-huit heures. (Please note that the shop closes at six o’clock.)

Présent

(tu) sache
(nous) sachons
(vous) sachez

Passé

(tu) aie su
(nous) ayons su
(vous) ayez su

How to conjugate SAVOIR in the Infinitive Mood (Infinitif)

Présent

savoir

Passé

avoir su

Participe

Présentsachant
Passésu
Passé composéayant su
Gérondifen sachant

Common expressions with SAVOIR

Je ne sais pas. – I don’t know. In speech you will hear Je sais pas or Chais pas.
Tu sais quoi ? – You know what?
Va savoir ! – Who knows!
Je vous le ferai savoir. – I’ll let you know.
À savoir – namely, that is
Le savoir-faire – know-how · le savoir-vivre – good manners

Quick Exercise – fill in the blanks

Fill each blank with the right form of savoir, then open the answer. Some sentences allow more than one tense without extra context: the answers below give one possible completion.

1. Il _____ conduire.

Il sait conduire.

2. Elles _______ qu’elles ont tort.

Elles savent qu’elles ont tort.

3. _______-vous quelle heure il est ?

Savez-vous quelle heure il est ?

4. Je ne _________ t’aider.

Je ne saurais t’aider.

5. Elle est d’accord ? Va _______ !

Elle est d’accord ? Va savoir ! (“Who knows!”)

6. Il m’a parlé sans le _________.

Il m’a parlé sans le savoir.

7. Sans doute, tu as le ______-faire.

Sans doute, tu as le savoir-faire.

8. La cuisine française, tu en ______ quelque chose.

La cuisine française, tu en sais quelque chose. (“You know a thing or two about it.”)

9. Il faut que tu ______ la vérité.

Il faut que tu saches la vérité.

10. Je ______ que nous serions de bons amis.

Je savais que nous serions de bons amis.

FAQ about the verb savoir

What is the present tense of savoir?

Je sais, tu sais, il / elle sait, nous savons, vous savez, ils / elles savent.

What is the past participle of savoir?

It is su: j’ai su, nous avons su. It agrees only with a direct object placed before the verb: La réponse ? Je l’ai sue.

Does savoir take avoir or être?

Always avoir: j’ai su, j’avais su, j’aurai su.

How do you say “I don’t know” in French?

Je ne sais pas. In everyday speech, Je sais pas or Chais pas.

What is the difference between savoir and connaître?

Savoir is for facts and skills (Je sais nager). Connaître is for people, places and things you are familiar with (Je connais Paris). See savoir vs connaître.

Conclusion

Savoir is a very common and irregular verb, so it is worth learning well. Start with the present, the imparfait, the passé composé and the futur, then add the conditional and the subjunctive. Keep the split in mind: savoir for facts and skills, connaître for people and places.

Do not just chant the tables. Say the example sentences out loud, with the audio, a few minutes a day, until the forms come without thinking.