Level: A1-A2 (Beginner)
🎧 Audio by Marie Assel Cambier, a native speaker & professional voice artist from France
The French Word of the Day is savoir, meaning “to know.” It’s used specifically for knowing facts, information, or how to do something — not for people or places (that’s connaître). By the end of this lesson, you’ll have a crystal-clear understanding of how and when to use savoir correctly.
✅ Meaning
✅ Pronunciation
✅ Example sentences
✅ Related Words & Expressions
✅ Related lessons
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📘 Savoir meaning
Savoir means “to know” when you’re talking about facts, information, or skills — unlike connaître, which is used for people and places. Use savoir when you know something objectively or intellectually.
✅ Fact: Je sais que le train arrive à 18h. — I know the train arrives at 6 PM.
✅ Information: Je sais où tu habites. — I know where you live.
✅ Skill: Je sais cuisiner. — I know how to cook.
🎧 Savoir pronunciation
The pronunciation of savoir is /sa.vwaʁ/, which sounds like sah-vwahr.
📝 French and English example sentences
Savoir – to know
Je sais où tu habites, mais je n’ai jamais visité ton quartier.
I know where you live, but I’ve never visited your neighborhood.
Savez-vous conduire une voiture avec une boîte manuelle ?
Do you know how to drive a car with a manual transmission?
Je sais que tu ne travailles pas le week-end.
I know that you don’t work on weekends.
J’ai su hier soir que le concert avait été annulé à cause de la pluie.
I found out last night that the concert had been cancelled because of the rain.
👉 See lesson: Savoir vs. connaître »
💡 Savoir — Notes & common mistakes
- Use savoir when it is followed by a question word, such as: qui (who), où (where), comment (how), pourquoi (why), combien (how much / how many), or que (that).
- If someone tells you something and you simply want to reply “Yes, I know,” use savoir:
La France est un pays. → Oui, je sais. ✅
Saying Oui, je connais ❌ would be incorrect. - If you have known (or haven’t known) something “all along,” use the imperfect of savoir:
Oui, je savais. — Yes, I knew.
Non, je ne savais pas. — No, I didn’t know. - For people, places, and areas of study, you must use connaître:
Je connais Jean. / Je connais Paris. / Je connais la biologie. - The past participle of savoir is su. In the passé composé, j’ai su means “I found out” or “I learned (for the first time).”
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📊 Savoir conjugation
Here’s the basic savoir conjugation in the present tense.
- Je sais — I know
- Tu sais — You know (informal)
- Il / Elle sait — He / She knows
- Nous savons — We know
- Vous savez — You know (formal/plural)
- Ils / Elles savent — They know
👉 See also: savoir conjugation in French (updated with audio)
🔗 Related words and expressions
- connaître — to know (a person, place, or be familiar with something)
- le savoir-faire — the know-how / practical skill
- faire savoir — to let someone know / to inform
- je ne sais pas — i don’t know
- le je-ne-sais-quoi — that special something / “i don’t know what”
- Tu savais ? — Did you know?
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