The verb conocer (conjugation) means "to know someone" or "to be familiar with a place". It is irregular in the present tense. The ending c changes to zc in the (yo) form (first person singular).
yo
conozco
(I know)
tú
conoces
(you know)
Ud/él/ella
conoce
(you/he/she knows)
nosotros (as)
conocemos
(we know)
vosotros (as)
conocéis
(you guys know)
Uds/ellos/ellas
conocen
(you all/they know)
Yo conozco a María.
I know María.
¿Conoces Bilbao?
Do you know Bilbao?
Nosotros conocemos al jefe.
We know the boss.
Es una historia que muchos conocen.
It's a story that many people know.
No conocerás a los niños.
You won't know the children.
¿Conociste a tu nueva prima?
Did you meet your new cousin?
Present Tense
Present Tense - Interrogative
Preterite Tense
Imperfect Tense
Infinitive - Mixed tenses
Subjunctive -Mixed tenses
Advanced Spanish
Conocer vs. Saber
The basic meaning of conocer is “to be acquainted with” and thus may be used as “to know” persons or places, or “to be familiar” with [rather than “to know by heart”] something such as a literary work. In the preterit it can be equivalent of the word “met”, that is, “made the acquaintance of”.
Yo no conozco a María. - I don't know María.
¿Ya conociste a mi hermano? - Did you meet my brother already?
Sí, pero estuvimos contentos de conocer la cueva. - Yes, but we were happy to see the cave.
Conozco San Salvador. - I've been to San Salvador.
Saber means “to know” a fact. It may also be used as “to know how to” when followed by an infinitive.
Yo sé que tú vas a hacer el trabajo mañana si puedes. - I know you will do the job tomorrow if you can.
Yo sé un poco de español. - I know a little bit of Spanish.
No sabemos quién es el hombre sentado allí.
We don't know who the fellow seated over there is.
Note that saber and not conocer is used in the third example —with quién— because the issue is knowledge of information, not of acquaintance.
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