Meaning and Usage

Connaître is an irregular French verb meaning "to know" mainly in the context of being familiar with people, places, or things. It differs from savoir, which is used to express knowing facts or how to do something. You use connaître when you have personal experience or acquaintance with someone or something.

Conjugation Overview

Connaître is irregular in the present tense and some other tenses. Its stem changes slightly in many forms, with a cedilla (ç) added before the letter 'a' in some forms to maintain pronunciation.

Present Tense Conjugation

French Pronoun	French Conjugation	English Conjugation	French Example	English Example
je	connais	I know	Je connais Paris.	I know Paris.
tu	connais	you know	Tu connais Marie.	You know Marie.
il/elle/on	connaît	he/she/one knows	Il connaît bien cette rue.	He knows this street well.
nous	connaissons	we know	Nous connaissons ce restaurant.	We know this restaurant.
vous	connaissez	you (formal/plural) know	Vous connaissez cet artiste?	Do you know this artist?
ils/elles	connaissent	they know	Elles connaissent la région.	They know the region.

Past Tense (Passé Composé)

In passé composé, connaître uses avoir as the auxiliary verb and the past participle connu.

Example: J'ai connu ce musicien. — I knew/met this musician.

Common Expressions with Connaître

Faire connaissance — to get to know, to meet someone.
Connaître par cœur — to know by heart.
Bien connaître — to know well.

Differences with Savoir

While connaître is used for people, places, and things you are familiar with, savoir relates to knowledge of facts or abilities, as in:

Je sais parler français. (I know how to speak French.)
Je connais cette ville. (I know this city.)