PrepMyFrench
PrepMyFrench
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Savoir means to know a fact, a piece of information, or how to do something; connaître means to know a person, place, or thing through familiarity. Savoir is followed by an infinitive, a clause (que, si, où, comment…), or stands alone, while connaître always takes a direct object noun and can never introduce a clause. In the passé composé the meanings shift: j'ai su means "I found out" and j'ai connu means "I met".
fact or skill → savoir · person, place or thing → connaître
Ask one question: is what follows the verb a noun you are familiar with, or information? If you can replace the object with "that…", "how to…", "whether…", or "where/when/why…", you need savoir. If the object is a person, a city, a book, a restaurant — anything you know through experience or acquaintance — you need connaître.
A reliable grammar shortcut: connaître must always be followed directly by a noun phrase. It can never be followed by que, by si, by a question word, or by an infinitive. Savoir handles all of those. So the moment you see a clause or an infinitive coming, the choice is already made for you.
Je sais que le train part à huit heures.
I know (that) the train leaves at eight.
savoir + que + clause
Elle sait nager depuis l'âge de cinq ans.
She has known how to swim since she was five.
savoir + infinitive = a learned skill
Sais-tu où se trouve la gare ?
Do you know where the station is?
savoir + question word
Je ne sais pas si elle viendra demain.
I don't know whether she'll come tomorrow.
savoir + si
Je connais très bien Montréal.
I know Montreal very well.
a place you're familiar with
Tu connais mon frère ?
Do you know my brother?
a person — always connaître
Nous connaissons un bon restaurant près d'ici.
We know a good restaurant near here.
Elle connaît la chanson par cœur.
She knows the song by heart.
familiarity with a work — even memorised, it stays connaître
| What follows the verb | Verb | Example |
|---|---|---|
| que / si / où / comment + clause | savoir | Je sais qu'il est parti. |
| infinitive (a skill) | savoir | Il sait conduire. |
| a fact, standing alone | savoir | — Le film commence à quelle heure ? — Je ne sais pas. |
| a person | connaître | Je connais sa sœur. |
| a place | connaître | Ils connaissent bien Paris. |
| a thing / work / topic (familiarity) | connaître | Je connais ce roman. |
The passé composé changes the meaning of both verbs. J'ai su la vérité means "I found out the truth" (the moment of learning), not "I knew the truth". J'ai connu Marie à Lyon means "I met Marie in Lyon" (the first encounter), not "I knew Marie". For an ongoing state of knowing in the past, French uses the imparfait: je savais, je connaissais.
Don't confuse savoir + infinitive with pouvoir + infinitive. Je sais nager says you learned the skill; je peux nager says circumstances allow it right now (the pool is open, your arm has healed). "Je connais nager" is impossible in French — connaître never takes an infinitive.
With languages, both appear but mean different things: je sais le français is rare and bookish; je connais le français suggests familiarity with the language as a subject. Everyday French prefers je parle français for ability.
Think of savoir as knowledge stored in your head — facts, answers, skills you could write down or demonstrate. Think of connaître as knowledge stored in your history — people you've met, streets you've walked, books you've read. If you could have learned it from a textbook alone, it's savoir; if it required contact or experience, it's connaître.
In TEF and TCF speaking tasks, self-introduction and experience questions pull this pair out immediately: je sais + infinitive for skills (je sais conduire, je sais utiliser Excel) and je connais + noun for places and people (je connais bien Toronto). Evaluators log "je connais nager"-type errors as a basic control failure, which caps your grammar sub-score, and in the writing sections the passé composé shift (j'ai su = found out, j'ai connu = met) is exactly the nuance that separates a B2 narrative from a B1 one. One correctly deployed j'ai connu in a story about meeting someone reads as native-like control.
No. Connaître must be followed directly by a noun phrase. If a clause with que, si, or a question word follows, the verb has to be savoir: je sais que tu as raison, never "je connais que tu as raison".
Je sais nager. French uses savoir + infinitive for learned skills, with no word for "how": je sais conduire, elle sait lire. Saying "je sais comment nager" is understandable but unnatural, and "je connais nager" is impossible.
They shift from states to events: j'ai su = I found out / learned (at a moment), j'ai connu = I met (for the first time) or I experienced. For "I knew" as an ongoing past state, use the imparfait: je savais, je connaissais.
Connaître, because a city is something you know through familiarity: je connais Paris. Adding bien or un peu is very natural: je connais bien Paris, je connais un peu Lyon.