Savoir or Connaître: What Is the Difference?

Reading time: 8 minutes

 

🇫🇷 In short : “Je sais Paris” or “je connais Paris”? “Je connais parler français” or “je sais parler français”? Here is how to choose between savoir and connaître.

This difficulty is very common among French learners because the rule seems simple at first… then exceptions and natural usage appear in conversations.

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The simple rule

Use savoir with information, a clause or an infinitive verb.

Use connaître with a person, place, topic or thing you know through experience.

Verb Use Example
savoir information / verb Je sais parler français.
connaître person / place / topic Je connais Paris.


Savoir + verb

  • Je sais conduire.
  • Elle sait parler espagnol.
  • Tu sais utiliser ce logiciel ?
     

Savoir + information

  • Je sais que tu as raison.
  • Je ne sais pas où il habite.
  • Tu sais pourquoi elle est partie ?
     

Connaître + noun

  • Je connais Manon.
  • Je connais bien Lyon.
  • Tu connais cette expression ?
     

Common mistake

Do not say: Je connais parler français. Say: Je sais parler français.

Do not say: Je sais Paris. Say: Je connais Paris.
 

Key takeaway

The right question is not only: “What is the rule?” The right question is: “In what situation do I want to use this sentence?” This is how grammar becomes useful for speaking.

Do you want to speak French with more confidence?

In Objectif : Parler Français, you practise grammar in concrete situations, so you can move from “I know the rule” to “I can use it when speaking”.

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