French Verb · Communication · connaître to know (personally)
past participle: connu
Singular
Plural
first person
je connais
jeuh cohnay
I know
nous connaissons
noo cohnehssohn
we know
second person
tu connais
too cohnay
you know
vous connaissez
voo cohnehssay
you know
third person
il connaît
eel cohnay
he knows
ils connaissent
eel cohnesse
they know
(masc. or mixed)
elle connaît
ell cohnay
she knows
on connaît
ohn cohnay
one knows
elles connaissent
ell cohnesse
they know (fem.)
Other -aître verbs
apparaître - to appear
connaître - to know
disparaître - to disappear
naître - to be born1
1Naître has an irregular past participle (né) and takes être as its helping verb in perfect tenses.
Connaître & Savoir
Connaître is used to say that you know someone personally. Savoir is used to say that you know someone by reputation or that you know a fact or piece of information.
French Verb · Communication · savoir to know (as a fact)
past participle: su
Singular
Plural
first person
je sais
jeuh say
I know
nous savons
noo sahvohn
we know
second person
tu sais
too say
you know
vous savez
voo sahvay
you know
third person
il sait
eel say
he knows
ils savent
eel sahve
they know
(masc. or mized)
elle sait
ell say
she knows
on sait
ohn say
one knows
elles savent
ell sahve
they know (fem.)
Calling Others
Téléphoner (à) is used to say that you are calling (to) someone. In French, you call to someone, so the verb is used with indirect, and not direct, objects.
Je téléphone à Jacques. - I'm calling Jacques.
Appeler
Appeler is used to say what your name is. Je m'appelle... literally means I call myself.., but in English you would say My name is... Appeler is a regular -er verb, but, as you may have noticed, is also stem changing. In the present indicative, it is conjuagted as follows:
