What does conocer mean in English?

Conocer means "to know/meet" in English.

How do you conjugate conocer in Spanish?

Conocer is conjugated across all Spanish tenses including present, preterite, imperfect, future, conditional, subjunctive, and more. Each tense has specific conjugations for yo, tú, él/ella/usted, nosotros, vosotros, and ellos/ustedes. You can see complete conjugation tables with audio pronunciations on this page.

What are common idiomatic expressions with conocer?

Common idiomatic expressions using conocer include: "dar a conocer" (to make known / to announce), "conocer de vista" (to know by sight), "conocer al dedillo" (to know like the back of one's hand). These expressions are frequently used in everyday Spanish conversation.

What should I know about using conocer?

Conocer is irregular in first person present: conozco (c→zc before o/a)

What verbs are related to conocer?

Verbs related to conocer include: reconocer, desconocer. These verbs share similar meanings, stems, or conjugation patterns.

How do you use conocer in a sentence?

Example: "Conozco bien esta ciudad." which means "I know this city well." in English.

What are synonyms for conocer?

Spanish synonyms for conocer include: saber. The exact synonym to use depends on the context and specific meaning intended.

Conocer

to know/meet

🎯

Infinitive (infinitivo)

Base form of the verb

conocer

🏃

Gerund (gerundio)

Present participle (-ing form)

conociendo

📋

Past Participle

Used in compound tenses

conocido

Simple Tenses

⚡

Present Indicative (presente de indicativo)

Present actions and habitual activities

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	conoco I know/meet	I know/meet
tú	conoces you know/meet	you know/meet
él/ella/usted	conoce he/she/you know/meets	he/she/you know/meets
nosotros	conocemos we know/meet	we know/meet
vosotros	conocéis you all know/meet	you all know/meet
ellos/ustedes	conocen they/you all know/meet	they/you all know/meet

🕰️

Imperfect Indicative (imperfecto de indicativo)

Ongoing past actions and descriptions

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	conocía I used to know/meet	I used to know/meet
tú	conocías you used to know/meet	you used to know/meet
él/ella/usted	conocía he/she/you used to know/meet	he/she/you used to know/meet
nosotros	conocíamos we used to know/meet	we used to know/meet
vosotros	conocíais you all used to know/meet	you all used to know/meet
ellos/ustedes	conocían they/you all used to know/meet	they/you all used to know/meet

📅

Preterit (pretérito)

Completed past actions

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	conocí I know/meeted	I know/meeted
tú	conociste you know/meeted	you know/meeted
él/ella/usted	conoció he/she/you know/meeted	he/she/you know/meeted
nosotros	conocimos we know/meeted	we know/meeted
vosotros	conocisteis you all know/meeted	you all know/meeted
ellos/ustedes	conocieron they/you all know/meeted	they/you all know/meeted

🔮

Future (futuro)

Future actions and intentions

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	conoceré I will know/meet	I will know/meet
tú	conocerás you will know/meet	you will know/meet
él/ella/usted	conocerá he/she/you will know/meet	he/she/you will know/meet
nosotros	conoceremos we will know/meet	we will know/meet
vosotros	conoceréis you all will know/meet	you all will know/meet
ellos/ustedes	conocerán they/you all will know/meet	they/you all will know/meet

🎯

Conditional (potencial simple)

Hypothetical and conditional actions

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	conocería I would know/meet	I would know/meet
tú	conocerías you would know/meet	you would know/meet
él/ella/usted	conocería he/she/you would know/meet	he/she/you would know/meet
nosotros	conoceríamos we would know/meet	we would know/meet
vosotros	conoceríais you all would know/meet	you all would know/meet
ellos/ustedes	conocerían they/you all would know/meet	they/you all would know/meet

💭

Present Subjunctive (presente de subjuntivo)

Subjective present actions and desires

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	conoca that I know/meet	that I know/meet
tú	conocas that you know/meet	that you know/meet
él/ella/usted	conoca that he/she/you know/meet	that he/she/you know/meet
nosotros	conocamos that we know/meet	that we know/meet
vosotros	conocáis that you all know/meet	that you all know/meet
ellos/ustedes	conocan that they/you all know/meet	that they/you all know/meet

🌙

Imperfect Subjunctive (imperfecto de subjuntivo)

Subjective past actions and hypothetical situations

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	conociera or conociese that I know/meeted	that I know/meeted
tú	conocieras or conocieses that you know/meeted	that you know/meeted
él/ella/usted	conociera or conociese that he/she/you know/meeted	that he/she/you know/meeted
nosotros	conociéramos or conociésemos that we know/meeted	that we know/meeted
vosotros	conocierais or conocieseis that you all know/meeted	that you all know/meeted
ellos/ustedes	conocieran or conociesen that they/you all know/meeted	that they/you all know/meeted

Compound Tenses

✅

Present Perfect (perfecto de indicativo)

Actions completed recently or with present relevance

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	he conocido I have know/meeted	I have know/meeted
tú	has conocido you have know/meeted	you have know/meeted
él/ella/usted	ha conocido he/she/you have know/meeted	he/she/you have know/meeted
nosotros	hemos conocido we have know/meeted	we have know/meeted
vosotros	habéis conocido you all have know/meeted	you all have know/meeted
ellos/ustedes	han conocido they/you all have know/meeted	they/you all have know/meeted

⏪

Pluperfect Indicative (pluscuamperfecto de indicativo)

Actions completed before another past action

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	había conocido I had know/meeted	I had know/meeted
tú	habías conocido you had know/meeted	you had know/meeted
él/ella/usted	había conocido he/she/you had know/meeted	he/she/you had know/meeted
nosotros	habíamos conocido we had know/meeted	we had know/meeted
vosotros	habíais conocido you all had know/meeted	you all had know/meeted
ellos/ustedes	habían conocido they/you all had know/meeted	they/you all had know/meeted

📍

Preterit Perfect (pretérito anterior)

Actions completed immediately before another past action

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	hube conocido I had know/meeted	I had know/meeted
tú	hubiste conocido you had know/meeted	you had know/meeted
él/ella/usted	hubo conocido he/she/you had know/meeted	he/she/you had know/meeted
nosotros	hubimos conocido we had know/meeted	we had know/meeted
vosotros	hubisteis conocido you all had know/meeted	you all had know/meeted
ellos/ustedes	hubieron conocido they/you all had know/meeted	they/you all had know/meeted

🎊

Future Perfect (futuro perfecto)

Actions that will be completed by a future time

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	habré conocido I will have know/meeted	I will have know/meeted
tú	habrás conocido you will have know/meeted	you will have know/meeted
él/ella/usted	habrá conocido he/she/you will have know/meeted	he/she/you will have know/meeted
nosotros	habremos conocido we will have know/meeted	we will have know/meeted
vosotros	habréis conocido you all will have know/meeted	you all will have know/meeted
ellos/ustedes	habrán conocido they/you all will have know/meeted	they/you all will have know/meeted

🔄

Conditional Perfect (potencial compuesto)

Actions that would have been completed under certain conditions

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	habría conocido I would have know/meeted	I would have know/meeted
tú	habrías conocido you would have know/meeted	you would have know/meeted
él/ella/usted	habría conocido he/she/you would have know/meeted	he/she/you would have know/meeted
nosotros	habríamos conocido we would have know/meeted	we would have know/meeted
vosotros	habríais conocido you all would have know/meeted	you all would have know/meeted
ellos/ustedes	habrían conocido they/you all would have know/meeted	they/you all would have know/meeted

💫

Subjunctive Present Perfect (perfecto de subjuntivo)

Subjective actions completed in relation to the present

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	haya conocido that I have know/meeted	that I have know/meeted
tú	hayas conocido that you have know/meeted	that you have know/meeted
él/ella/usted	haya conocido that he/she/you have know/meeted	that he/she/you have know/meeted
nosotros	hayamos conocido that we have know/meeted	that we have know/meeted
vosotros	hayáis conocido that you all have know/meeted	that you all have know/meeted
ellos/ustedes	hayan conocido that they/you all have know/meeted	that they/you all have know/meeted

🌌

Subjunctive Past Perfect (pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo)

Subjective actions completed before another past action

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	hubiera conocido that I had know/meeted	that I had know/meeted
tú	hubieras conocido that you had know/meeted	that you had know/meeted
él/ella/usted	hubiera conocido that he/she/you had know/meeted	that he/she/you had know/meeted
nosotros	hubiéramos conocido that we had know/meeted	that we had know/meeted
vosotros	hubierais conocido that you all had know/meeted	that you all had know/meeted
ellos/ustedes	hubieran conocido that they/you all had know/meeted	that they/you all had know/meeted

❗

Commands (imperativo)

Commands and direct orders

Person	Command	English
tú	conoce	know/meet! (you)
usted	conoca	know/meet! (you formal)
nosotros	conocamos	let's know/meet!
vosotros	conoced	know/meet! (you all)
ustedes	conocan	know/meet! (you all)

🚫

Negative Commands (imperativo negativo)

Negative commands and prohibitions

Person	Command	English
tú	no conocas	don't know/meet! (you)
usted	no conoca	don't know/meet! (you formal)
nosotros	no conocamos	let's not know/meet!
vosotros	no conocáis	don't know/meet! (you all)
ustedes	no conocan	don't know/meet! (you all)

More About "conocer"

Idiomatic Expressions

dar a conocer

to make known / to announce

💡 Revealing or publicizing information

conocer de vista

to know by sight

💡 Recognizing someone visually but not personally

conocer al dedillo

to know like the back of one's hand

💡 Knowing something thoroughly or perfectly

conocerse como el agua y el aceite

to be like oil and water

💡 Describing incompatible people or things

no conocer de nada

to know nothing about

💡 Complete unfamiliarity with something

Examples in Context

Conozco bien esta ciudad.

I know this city well.

Present

Conocí a mi esposa en la universidad.

I met my wife at university.

Preterite

¿Conoces a Juan?

Do you know Juan?

Present

He conocido muchos países.

I have known/visited many countries.

Present Perfect

Espero que conozcas a mi familia pronto.

I hope you meet my family soon.

Present Subjunctive

Related Verbs

reconocer(to recognize)

compound - to recognize

desconocer(to not know, be unaware)

opposite prefix - to not know/be unaware

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

saber(to know (facts/information))

For knowing information, not people or places

Antonyms:

desconocer(to not know, be unaware of)

ignorar(to be ignorant of, not know)

Usage Notes

•Conocer is irregular in first person present: conozco (c→zc before o/a)
•Main meanings: to know (people/places), to meet (for first time), to be familiar with
•Distinguished from "saber": conocer = to know people/places, saber = to know facts/how to
•Irregular present subjunctive: conozca, conozcas, conozca
•In preterite, "conocí" often means "I met" (first time meeting)
•Takes personal "a" when followed by people: conocer a Juan
•Can mean "to be familiar with": conocer un lugar (to be familiar with a place)
•Spelling change c→zc occurs before o and a to maintain pronunciation

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Conocer

Simple Tenses

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