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Connaître Conjugation: Complete Verb Tables & Charts

Connaître Conjugation: Complete Verb Tables & Charts

The conjugation of connaître (Meaning: To know) is: Je connais (I know), tu connais (you know), il/elle connaît (he/she knows) nous connaissons (we know), vous connaissez (you know) and ils/elles connaissent (they know). This page provides conjugation tables of connaître in six verb tenses.

Connaitre conjugation

Connaître is an an irregular -re verb. This means that its endings in the present tense are different from all other regular -re verbs.

The past participle of connaitre is connu (met) and the present participle is connaissant (knowing).

The meaning of connaître is to know in the context of knowing a person, place or area of study. However, savoir means to know in the context of knowing facts.

This page on our site covers connaître vs. savoir in detail and this page offers complete conjugation tables with example sentences for savoir.

This page provides conjugations with example sentences in the following six major verb tenses:

  • Present tense (le présent)
  • Compound past (passé composé)
  • Imperfect (l’imparfait)
  • Simple future (le futur simple)
  • Conditional (le présent du conditionnel)
  • Present subjunctive (le subjonctif)

Connaître conjugation table

Connaître conjugation table

Connaître conjugation charts

Present tense (le présent)

In the present tense, je connais translates to “I know”)”.

Je connaisI knowJe connais Jacques mais je ne connais pas Marie. I know Jacques but I don't know Marie.
Tu connaisYou know (familiar, singular)Est-ce que tu connais Monsieur Dupont?Do you know Mr. Dupont?
Il, elle connaîtHe, she knowsIl connaît bien Paris mais il ne connaît pas Rome. He knows Paris very well but he doesn't know Rome.
Nous connaissonsWe knowNous connaissons la région depuis très longtemps. We've know the region for a very long time.
Vous connaissezYou know (formal, plural)Vous connaissez le patron de l'entreprise. You know the company's boss.
Ils, elles connaissentThey knowIls connaissent très bien l'histoire française.They know French history very well.

In the following video, online French teacher Alexa teachers the pronunciation of connaitre in the present tense.

Compound past (passé composé)

The French use the passé composé to describe past events which occurred at specific times. In the passé composé, j’ai connu translates to “I knew” or “I met”.

J'ai connuI knew, I metJ'ai connu ma petite amie à l'université. I met my girlfriend in university.
Tu as connuYou know, you met (familiar, singular)Où est-ce que tu as connu Marie?Where did you meet Marie?
Il, elle a conneHe, she knew, metIl a connu sa femme il y vingt ans.He met his wife twenty years ago.
Nous avons connuWe knew, we metNous avons connu nos amis en France. We met our friends in France.
Vous avez connuYou knew, you met (formal, plural)Vous avez connu Jean chez votre ami. You met Jean at your friend's place.
Ils, elles ont connuThey knew, they metIls ont connu Martin dans l'avion.They met Martin in the plane.

Imperfect (l’imparfait)

The French use the imperfect tense to describe past actions which occurred at unspecified times. Je connaissais translates to “I used to know”. The verb connaître does not lend itself well to example sentences in the imperfect tense.

Je connaissaisI used to know
Tu connaissaisYou used to know (informal, singular)
Il, elle connaissaitHe, she used to know
Nous connaissionsWe used to know
Vous connaissiezYou used to know (formal, plural)
Ils, elles connaissaientThey used to know
Je connais la femme. Je ne connais pas l'homme. I know the woman. I don't know the man.

Simple future (le futur simple)

The French uses the simple future tense to express future actions. Je connaîtrai translates to “I will know”.

Je connaîtraiI will knowJe connaîtrai toutes les grandes villes de l'Europe.I will know all the big cities of Europe.
Tu connaîtrasYou will know (informal, singular)Tu connaîtras l'amour de ta vie. You will know the love of your life.
Il, elle connaîtraHe, she will knowIl connaîtra un grand succès.He will know a great success.
Nous connaîtronsWe will knowNous connaîtrons bien l'histoire de la Chine. We will know the history of China very well.
Vous connaîtrezYou will know (formal, plural)Vous connaîtrez beaucoup de nouveaux endroits.You will know many new places.
Ils, elles connaîtrontThey will knowIls connaîtront tous les bons coins de la réigon. They will know all the good spots in the region.

Conditional (le présent du conditionnel)

The French use the conditional tense to express hypothetical actions. Je connaîtrais translates to “I would know”. The verb connaître does not lend itself well to example sentences in the conditional tense.

Je connaîtraisI would know
Tu connaîtraisYou would know (informal, singular)
Il, elle connaîtraitHe, she would know
Nous connaîtrions We would know
Vous connaîtriezYou would know (formal, plural)
Ils, elles connaîtraient They would know

Present subjunctive (le subjonctif)

The French use the subjunctive mood to express wishes, emotions and doubts. Que je connaisse translates to “that I know”.

que je connaissethat I knowIl doute que je connaisse cette femme. He doubts I know this woman.
que te connaissesthat you know (informal, singular)Je suis content que tu connaisses le patron.I'm happy you know the boss.
qu'il/elle connaissethat he, she knowsJe ne sais pas s'il me connaisse.I don't know if he knows me.
que nous connaissionsthat we knowIl faut que nous nous connaissions un peu mieux. We have to get to know each other a bit better.
que vous connaissiezthat you know (formal, plural)Je ne sais pas si vous vous connaissiez. I don't know if you know each other.
qu'ils connaissentthat they knowJe suis ravi qu'ils connaissent notre ville.I'm delighted they know our city.
Je connais Paris mais je ne connais pas Rome. I knwo Paris but I don't know Rome.

More French verb conjugations:

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David Issokson

David Issokson is a lifelong language enthusiast. His head is swimming with words and sounds as he speaks over six languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private online lessons. When procrastinating working on his site, FrenchLearner.com, David enjoys his time skiing and hiking in Teton Valley, Idaho.

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