Savoir vs Connaître: What’s the Difference?

By Frederic Bibard Published: October 29, 2026

Reviewed by Frederic Bibard, founder of Talk in French and native French speaker · 9 min read

Savoir and connaître both mean “to know”, but French makes you choose. Here is the one rule that decides it, a comparison table, 24 example sentences with audio, the tricky cases and a 10-question quiz.

On this page

The short answer The core rule Comparison table 24 example sentences The tricky cases Conjugation at a glance Common mistakes Quiz: 10 questions FAQ Keep going

The short answer

Quick answer

Use savoir for facts and skills: je sais nager, je sais qu’il vient. Use connaître for people, places and things you are familiar with: je connais Paul, je connais Lyon. Savoir is followed by a verb or a clause; connaître by a noun.

English has one verb for all of this: “to know”. French has two, and mixing them up is a very common mistake for English speakers. The good news is that one simple rule covers most cases.

The core rule: facts and skills vs familiarity

Savoir: you know a fact, or you know how to do something

A fact or a piece of information: Je sais que Paris est la capitale de la France.
An answer to where, how, why, when or who: Je sais où elle habite.
A skill you have learned: Je sais nager.

Connaître: you are familiar with someone or something

A person you have met: Je connais Paul.
A place you have been to or know well: Je connais Lyon.
A thing you have come across, such as a song, a film, a book or a restaurant: Je connais cette chanson.

The idea behind it: savoir is about knowledge in your head, facts and know-how. Connaître is about acquaintance: you have met, seen or experienced the person, the place or the thing. That is why you can know who someone is without knowing them: Je sais qui est Marie, mais je ne la connais pas.

The quick test

Look at what comes after the verb. A verb or que / si / où / comment / pourquoi? Savoir. A noun, a name, or le / la / les? Connaître.

If you know Spanish or German, you already know this split: saber / conocer in Spanish and wissen / kennen in German work in a very similar way.

Savoir vs connaître: comparison table

	Savoir	Connaître
Core idea	To know a fact, or to know how to do something	To be familiar with a person, a place or a thing
Followed by	A verb in the infinitive, or que, si, où, comment, pourquoi, quand, qui + a clause	A noun, or a pronoun that stands for one (le, la, les)
Typical objects	Facts, answers, reasons, skills	People, places, books, films, songs, restaurants
Example	Je sais nager. Je sais où il habite.	Je connais Paul. Je connais Lyon.
With a person	Only a fact about them: Je sais qui c’est.	The person themselves: Je connais ma voisine.
On its own	Je sais. (I know.) Fine on its own.	Needs an object: Je le connais. (I know him.)
Present: je / nous	je sais / nous savons	je connais / nous connaissons
Past participle	su (j’ai su)	connu (j’ai connu)
Passé composé means…	found out, learned	met, got to know; lived through
Imparfait	je savais = I knew (a fact)	je connaissais = I knew (was familiar with)

Both verbs are irregular, both take avoir in the passé composé, and both are among the 200 most common French verbs.

24 example sentences with audio

Tap Listen, then say the sentence out loud. The last column shows which verb is used and why.

Savoir + a fact (6)

#	French	English	Why
1	Je sais où il habite.	I know where he lives.	où + a clause: savoir.
2	Je sais que tu as raison.	I know you’re right.	que + a clause: savoir.
3	Tu sais quelle heure il est ?	Do you know what time it is?	A question word + a clause: savoir.
4	Elle sait comment ça marche.	She knows how it works.	comment + a clause: savoir.
5	Je ne sais pas pourquoi il est parti.	I don’t know why he left.	The negative keeps the same verb: je ne sais pas.
6	Il sait si le magasin est ouvert.	He knows whether the shop is open.	si here means “whether”.

Savoir + a skill (4)

#	French	English	Why
7	Je sais nager.	I know how to swim. / I can swim.	Savoir + infinitive = a skill you have learned.
8	Il sait jouer du piano.	He can play the piano.	Jouer de + an instrument.
9	Tu sais conduire ?	Can you drive?	A learned skill again.
10	Elle sait parler trois langues.	She can speak three languages.	Savoir + infinitive.

Connaître + a person (4)

#	French	English	Why
11	Je connais bien Paul.	I know Paul well.	A person: connaître.
12	Tu connais ma sœur ?	Do you know my sister?	Have you met her?
13	Ils se connaissent depuis dix ans.	They have known each other for ten years.	Se connaître = to know each other. Depuis goes with the present.
14	Je ne connais pas votre directeur.	I don’t know your manager.	Votre = polite vous form.

Connaître + a place (3)

#	French	English	Why
15	Je connais bien Lyon.	I know Lyon well.	You have been there or know it.
16	Tu connais un bon restaurant près d’ici ?	Do you know a good restaurant near here?	A place you are familiar with.
17	Nous ne connaissons pas ce quartier.	We don’t know this area.	Not familiar with it.

Connaître + a thing, a work or a story (3)

#	French	English	Why
18	Tu connais cette chanson ?	Do you know this song?	A song, a film or a book: connaître.
19	Elle connaît tous les films de Truffaut.	She knows all of Truffaut’s films.	Familiarity with works.
20	Je connais cette histoire : tu me l’as déjà racontée.	I know this story: you have already told it to me.	You have heard it before.

Both verbs in one sentence (4)

#	French	English	Why
21	Je sais qui est Marie, mais je ne la connais pas.	I know who Marie is, but I don’t know her.	Savoir = a fact about her. Connaître = knowing her personally.
22	Je connais Paris, mais je ne sais pas où se trouve ce musée.	I know Paris, but I don’t know where this museum is.	Paris = connaître. où + clause = savoir.
23	Je connais cette chanson, mais je ne sais pas la chanter.	I know this song, but I can’t sing it.	The song = connaître. Singing it = a skill = savoir.
24	Tu connais Julie ? Tu sais où elle habite ?	Do you know Julie? Do you know where she lives?	Same pair of questions.

Say it like a native

In speech, je sais sounds like “chais” and je sais pas becomes chais pas. You will hear it all the time. Write the full je ne sais pas.
Tu sais and il sait sound exactly the same, and so do tu connais and il connaît. Only the spelling tells you the person.
When you are not sure, check the next word. A person or a place never follows savoir directly: Je sais Paul is wrong, Je connais Paul is right.

The tricky cases

Savoir + que, si, où, comment…

When a clause follows, it is always savoir. The question words are the clue.

Word	Meaning	Example
que	that	Je sais que tu es là.
si	whether	Je ne sais pas si elle viendra.
où	where	Tu sais où il est ?
comment	how	Il sait comment faire.
pourquoi	why	Je sais pourquoi.
quand	when	Je ne sais pas quand il arrive.
qui	who	Tu sais qui a appelé ?
ce que	what	Je sais ce que tu veux.

Never use connaître here: Je connais où il habite is wrong. Say Je sais où il habite.

Connaître + a noun

Connaître always needs an object: a person, a place or a thing. It does not work with a verb or a clause. When the noun is really a piece of information (the answer, the truth, an address), both verbs are used: Tu connais la réponse ? and Tu sais la réponse ? are both fine. Savoir stresses the information, connaître stresses that you are familiar with it.

One idiom to learn: Je connais la chanson ! means “I’ve heard it all before!”

“Je sais pas” in speech

Spoken French drops the ne and squeezes the words together. The same goes for je connais pas.

French	English
Je ne sais pas.	I don’t know. (full form, for writing and polite speech)
Je sais pas.	I don’t know. (everyday speech)
Chais pas.	I dunno. (fast, casual)
Je n’en sais rien.	I have no idea.

Two more things you will hear: Tu sais as a filler (“you know”), and Je sais ! to agree (“I know!”).

Savoir or pouvoir?

Savoir + infinitive means you have learned how to do something. Pouvoir means you are able to, or allowed to, right now. The two can be in the same sentence. More in how to express modal verbs in French.

Je sais nager, mais je ne peux pas nager aujourd’hui : j’ai mal au bras.I know how to swim, but I can’t swim today: my arm hurts.

Reconnaître

Reconnaître means “to recognize” and also “to admit”. It is conjugated like connaître (je reconnais, il reconnaît, reconnu), but it is a different verb.

French	English
Tu me reconnais ?	Do you recognize me?
Je ne te reconnais plus !	I don’t recognize you anymore! (You have changed.)
Il faut reconnaître que tu as raison.	I have to admit that you’re right.

Se connaître and s’y connaître

Se connaître means “to know each other”, and in the passé composé “to meet”: Ils se sont connus à l’université. The participle agrees (connus) because se stands for “each other”. S’y connaître en means “to be an expert in”.

French	English
Vous vous connaissez ?	Do you know each other?
Ils se sont connus à l’université.	They met at university.
Elle s’y connaît en informatique.	She knows a lot about computers.

For more on verbs with se, read our guide to French reflexive verbs.

In the passé composé: j’ai su, j’ai connu

The meaning changes in the passé composé, and this is where English speakers get surprised. J’ai su is not “I knew”. It is “I found out”. J’ai connu is not just “I knew”. It is “I met”, or “I knew (at that time)”, or “I lived through”. For a state in the past, use the imparfait.

Tense	Savoir	Connaître
Imparfait	Je savais qu’elle partait. I knew she was leaving.	Je connaissais déjà ce restaurant. I already knew this restaurant.
Passé composé	Quand j’ai su qu’elle partait, j’ai pleuré. When I found out she was leaving, I cried.	J’ai connu ma femme à Lyon. I met my wife in Lyon.

French	English
Je savais qu’elle partait.	I knew she was leaving.
Quand j’ai su qu’elle partait, j’ai pleuré.	When I found out she was leaving, I cried.
Il n’a pas su répondre.	He wasn’t able to answer. (ne pas savoir in the passé composé = couldn’t, didn’t manage to)
Je connaissais déjà ce restaurant.	I already knew this restaurant.
J’ai connu ma femme à Lyon.	I met my wife in Lyon.
Mon grand-père a connu la guerre.	My grandfather lived through the war.
Je n’ai pas connu mon grand-père.	I never knew my grandfather.

The full passé composé vs imparfait rules are in imparfait vs passé composé, and the whole system is in French past tense: everything you need to know.

Conjugation at a glance

Both verbs are irregular. Watch the circumflex in il connaît and the double s in nous connaissons.

Present	Savoir	Connaître
je	sais	connais
tu	sais	connais
il / elle / on	sait	connaît
nous	savons	connaissons
vous	savez	connaissez
ils / elles	savent	connaissent

Other forms	Savoir	Connaître
Past participle	su	connu
Passé composé (je)	j’ai su	j’ai connu
Imparfait (je)	je savais	je connaissais
Futur (je)	je saurai	je connaîtrai
Present participle	sachant	connaissant

The full savoir conjugation, tense by tense, is in conjugating SAVOIR. You can also practise with the French verb conjugation quiz.

Common mistakes

✗ Je connais nager.
✓ Je sais nager.A skill: savoir.
✗ Je sais Paul.
✓ Je connais Paul.A person: connaître.
✗ Je connais que tu as raison.
✓ Je sais que tu as raison.Que + a clause: savoir.
✗ Tu connais où est la gare ?
✓ Tu sais où est la gare ?A question word: savoir.
✗ Quelle heure est-il ? — Je ne connais pas.
✓ Quelle heure est-il ? — Je ne sais pas.Connaître needs an object. To say you don’t know the answer, use savoir.
✗ J’ai su Marie à Lyon.
✓ J’ai connu Marie à Lyon.To say you met someone: j’ai connu.
✗ Je connaît Paul.
✓ Je connais Paul.The circumflex form connaît is only for il / elle / on.

Quiz: 10 questions

Fill in the blank with the right form of savoir or connaître, say the whole sentence out loud, then tap the line to check your answer.

1. Je ___ nager.

sais. Je sais nager. A skill: savoir.

2. Tu ___ Marie ?

connais. Tu connais Marie ? A person: connaître.

3. Elle ___ que tu es là.

sait. Elle sait que tu es là. Que + a clause: savoir.

4. Nous ___ bien Lyon.

connaissons. Nous connaissons bien Lyon. A place: connaître.

5. Vous ___ où est la gare ?

savez. Vous savez où est la gare ? A question word: savoir.

6. Ils ___ cette chanson.

connaissent. Ils connaissent cette chanson. A song: connaître.

7. Quand j’___ qu’elle partait, j’ai pleuré.

ai su. Quand j’ai su qu’elle partait, j’ai pleuré. “Found out”: passé composé of savoir.

8. J’___ ma femme à l’université.

ai connu. J’ai connu ma femme à l’université. “Met”: passé composé of connaître.

9. Je ne te ___ plus ! Tu as changé.

reconnais. Je ne te reconnais plus ! Reconnaître = to recognize. It is a related verb, not savoir or connaître.

10. Tu ___ la réponse ?

sais / connais. Both are possible: Tu sais la réponse ? / Tu connais la réponse ?

FAQ

What is the difference between savoir and connaître?

Savoir is for facts and skills: you know something, or you know how to do it. Connaître is for being familiar with a person, a place or a thing. After savoir comes a verb or a clause (que, si, où, comment…); after connaître comes a noun.

Can you say “Je sais” and “Je connais” on their own?

Je sais works on its own: “I know.” Je connais needs an object, so you say Je le connais (I know him) or Je connais Paul.

How do you say “I know him” and “I know that” in French?

Je le connais for a person (“I know him”), and Je le sais or Je sais for a fact (“I know that / I know”).

Do you use savoir or pouvoir for “can”?

For a skill you have learned, savoir: Je sais nager. For being able or allowed to do something right now, pouvoir: Je peux venir demain.

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

Je ne sais pas is the standard form. In speech: Je sais pas or Chais pas. Other ways: Je n’en sais rien (I have no idea) and Aucune idée.

Does savoir take avoir or être?

Avoir. The passé composé is j’ai su and, for connaître, j’ai connu.