saber conjugation

saber — to know. Sé.

Present indicative

The everyday present: what you do, what's true, what's going on.

Only yo is odd, and it's just sé. The accent matters: se without it is the "himself, herself" word. No sé (I don't know) is one you'll use daily. With vos it's vos sabés.

Preterite

The past for things that happened and finished: "I went", "she said".

New stem, sup-, and no accents. The meaning shifts too: in the preterite, saber is the moment you learned it. Lo supe ayer is "I found out yesterday", not "I knew yesterday".

Imperfect

The past for how things were or used to be: "I was going", "we used to live".

Regular, and it's the plain "knew": ya lo sabía (I already knew it). So sabía is knowing, supe is finding out.

Future, conditional and subjunctive

"Will" and "would", plus the subjunctive: the form Spanish uses after wishes, doubts and "if" (espero que…, si fuera…).

The future and conditional drop the e: sabré, sabría. The present subjunctive is all its own, sepa, and you'll hear it in que yo sepa (as far as I know) and no creo que lo sepa (I don't think he knows).

Gerund and past participle

The "-ing" form (estoy hablando, I'm talking) and the one that goes with haber (he hablado, I've talked).

Imperative

Commands: telling someone to do something, or not to.

Rare, but sepa usted que… (I'll have you know…) turns up in formal speech.

Saber or conocer?

Saber a is "to taste of": sabe a chocolate (it tastes like chocolate). Same verb, so ¿a qué sabe? is "what does it taste like?".

• Looking a word up once doesn't mean you'll remember it. The verb you look up today is gone by tomorrow. The one that keeps showing up in stuff you'd read anyway, right when you're about to forget it, is the one that sticks.
• No streaks, no guilt. Kin tracks one number: how many words you've got in reach today. It drops when you take a break and comes back when you do.

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