Sabes más que pescado frito: Conjugation of the verb Saber
If you try to make an estimate, could you say how many verbs you know? Maybe a few come to your mind, and I am sure there is one that we have just used, we learn it since we start talking because it is inevitably part of our daily vocabulary, and there is not a single guide that does not include those “Did You Know” Facts. How much could you say that you know the verb Saber? Well, enough with the word games and let’s see how to conjugate this verb.
Rather than wanting to memorize a number of conjugations, our purpose is to make the conversations go smoothly for you. Now, with that in mind the first thing you need to know is that the verb to know in Spanish is transformed into two verbs: the verb Conocer and the verb Saber. Each can have different meanings depending on the context and although today we are going to focus on the verb Saber. Let’s quickly see when it is better to use one or the other.
Saber will be your word of choice if…
You’re going to talk about facts, as in: Sé que Harry Potter es mejor que el Señor de los Anillos.
You will talk about any information, as in: ¿Sabías que el One World Trade Center es el edificio más alto de Estados Unidos?
You simply talk about how to do something, as in: ¡Ella sabe bailar muy bien!
Conocer is what you need if you mean to know…
People, as in: Te conozco, ¿eres el de Hot Ones?
Things, as in: Conozco este balón, es de mi hermanito.
Or places, as in: Ayer conocimos el Gran Cañón, es impresionante.
As you can see, it’s pretty straightforward, but if you want an extra hack (which is most likely going to help you know when to use Saber or Conocer) ask yourself: could this “to know” act as a “to meet”? If you answered “Yes”, surely in Spanish the word you should use is Conocer.
Another of the rare ones in the family
When can a verb be considered irregular? When it needs to constantly change in order to be conjugated, and guess what? The verb saber is part of that beautiful family called irregular verbs. First let’s look at the cases in which the verb saber is irregular, in total there are all these forms: first person in present tense of the indicative mood, and present, conditional, future, and preterit of the subjunctive mood. Relax, I know this sounds like getting into a maze, but I have always considered that the best way to understand this kind of theory is with practice and examples, and we are almost there.
Verbals of Saber
Have you seen the movie “Now you see me?” Well, Verbals are those verbs that don’t conjugate, yes, what you read, verbs that don’t conjugate. They look like those magic tricks where you thought and were sure of what you were seeing, and it turns out to be different. Infinitive, gerund and participle are those verbals that are passed off as verbs, these are not conjugated and will always need another conjugated verb to be used. Let’s put it more explicitly.
| Verbal | Common use | Example | English | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | Saber (to know) | Non conjugated / Noun | Me gustaría saber cuánto cuesta ese reloj. | I’d like to know how much that watch costs |
| Gerund | Sabiendo (knowing) | Adverb | Él entró en el examen sabiendo que le iría bien. | He went into the exam knowing he would do well. |
| Participle | Sabido (known) | Adjective | Es bien sabido por todos que el helado de chocolate es el mejor. | It is well known that chocolate ice cream is the best. |
To Conjugate? Of course!
The easiest, most classic and safest way for you to learn how to conjugate the Spanish verb Saber is to learn by heart those ways in which it changes (yes, including all the changes in the suffix). Each way of conjugating it is different, and sometimes very different.
Nine out of ten Spanish teachers recommend doing practical exercises by having real conversations to ensure naturalness in speaking (and the tenth one too, but it sounded cool that nine out of ten). So, let’s go to the conjugations and see practical ways to use it.
Saber Conjugation: Indicative Mood
A mood is the focus from which the person is speaking, whether this is to indicate a time-space sentence, an order or a wish; and our first and most common mode is the indicative.
Simple Tenses of the Indicative Mood
| Subject | Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Conditional | Future |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (know) | (knew) | (knew) | (would knew) | (will know) | |
| yo | sé | supe | sabía | sabría | sabré |
| tú | sabes | supiste | sabías | sabrías | sabrás |
| él/ella/ usted | sabe | supo | sabía | sabría | sabrá |
| nosotros | sabemos | supimos | sabíamos | sabríamos | sabremos |
| ellos/ellas/ ustedes | saben | supieron | sabían | sabrían | sabrán |
Examples:
Tú supiste que aprender español es sencillo cuando empezaste a ver tus clases (You knew that learning Spanish is easy when you started going to your classes).
Nosotros sabríamos que aprender español es sencillo si viéramos más películas con subtítulos (We would know that learning Spanish is easy if we watched more movies with subtitles).
Compound Tenses of the Indicative Mood
| Subject | Present Perfect | Preterite Perfect | Past Perfect (Pluperfect) | Conditional Perfect | Future Perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (have/has known) | (had known) | (had known) | (would have known) | (will have known) | |
| yo | he sabido | había sabido | hube sabido | habría sabido | habré sabido |
| tú | has sabido | hubiste sabido | habías sabido | habrías sabido | habrás sabido |
| él/ella/usted | ha sabido | hubo sabido | había sabido | habría sabido | habrá sabido |
| nosotros | hemos sabido | hubimos sabido | habíamos sabido | habríamos sabido | habremos sabido |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | han sabido | hubieron sabido | habían sabido | habrían sabido | habrán sabido |
Examples
Ustedes habrían sabido el precio del boleto del concierto, pero la página web dejó de funcionar (You would have known the price of the concert ticket, but the website stopped working).
Gracias al internet he sabido muchas formas de conquistar chicas (Thanks to the internet I have learned many ways to conquer girls).
Saber Conjugation: Subjunctive Mood
When any of these three words come to mind: wishes, hopes, or desires, you should definitely use the subjunctive mood conjugations.
Simple Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood
| Subject | Present | Imperfect | Imperfect 2 | Future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | sepa | supiera | supiese | supiere |
| tú | sepas | supieras | supieses | supieres |
| él/ella/usted | sepa | supiera | supiese | supiere |
| nosotros | sepamos | supiéramos | supiésemos | supiéremos |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | sepan | supieran | supiesen | supieren |
Examples:
Cuando ustedes sepan quién es el culpable, no lo van a creer (When you find out who is guilty, you will not believe it).
Ojalá ella supiera que es la chica de mis sueños (I wish she knew she is the girl of my dreams).
Compound Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood
| Subject | Present Perfect | Past Perfect (Pluperfect) | Past Perfect 2 (Pluperfect 2) | Future Perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | haya sabido | hubiera sabido | hubiese sabido | hubiere sabido |
| tú | hayas sabido | hubieras sabido | hubieses sabido | hubieres sabido |
| él/ella/usted | haya sabido | hubiera sabido | hubiese sabido | hubiere sabido |
| nosotros | hayamos sabido | hubiéramos sabido | hubiésemos sabido | hubiéremos sabido |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | hayan sabido | hubieran sabido | hubiesen sabido | hubieren sabido |
Examples
Ojalá hubiera sabido cuántos capítulos tenía esta temporada de Umbrella Academy (I wish I had known how many episodes this season of Umbrella Academy had).
Si los chicos hubiesen sabido la hora de entrada, no habrían llegado tarde (If the boys had known the entry time, they would not have been late).
Saber Conjugation: Imperative Mood
At this point we find the mood of the bossy: the orders or commands that are given to almost all people, in an affirmative or negative way. I say “almost all people” because there is a fact that many of us have overlooked at some time, and that is that we cannot give orders to ourselves!
Imperative Mood’s Conjugations
| Subject | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| (know / let’s know) | (don’t know / let’s not know) | |
| tú | sabe | no sepas |
| nosotros | sepamos | no sepamos |
| ustedes | sepan | no sepan |
Examples:
Aunque tú no sepas, actúa como si lo hicieras (Even if you don’t know, act like you do).
Es imperativo que ustedes sepan responder a estas preguntas si llega un cliente (It is imperative that you know how to answer these questions if a customer comes to you).
Spanish Verb Saber – Quiz/Worksheet
Remember what I told you at the beginning? The key is to practice, and here’s some of that practice, so you can rehearse the fresh knowledge you have. In these exercises, you have to fill in the blanks with the correct conjugation of the verb saber:
1.Ricardo, pronto _____________ que está equivocado – Ricardo will soon learn that he is wrong.
2.Yo no _____________ cuál era el mejor puesto para ver el concierto – I didn’t know which was the best place to see the concert.
3.Cuando ustedes _____________ las notas del examen, por favor, envíenme las – When you know your test scores, please send them to me.
4.Si ella _____________ que me gusta yo me desmayaría de los nervios – If she knew I liked her I would faint from nerves.
5._____________ las reglas del juego antes de inscribirse en este maratón – Know the rules of the game before registering for this marathon.
6.La orden del General es que _____________ cuando nos pregunten por eso – The General’s order is that we do not know when we are asked about it.
7.Yo _____________ como bailar tango gracias a mis clases – I have learned how to dance tango thanks to my classes.
8.Nosotros _____________ mucho sobre español – We know a lot about Spanish.
9. Ojalá nosotros _____________ pronto las fechas de estreno de las películas de Marvel – I wish we would know the release dates of Marvel movies soon.
10. Yo _____________ que puedo aprender rápido – I know I can learn quickly
The answers
Let’s see what the answers are, don’t worry if you had a hard time or if you got some of them wrong, and even less if it’s your first time, try to practice daily!
1.sabrá
2.sabía
3. hayan sabido
4. supiese
5. sepan
6. no sepamos
7.he sabido
8.sabemos
9. supiéramos
10. sé
Fun Fact
It’s not necessary, but it will save you headaches to know that “Saber” in Spanish also refers to tastes. Something like: That ice cream must taste good (debe saber bien). Or like the title of this lesson “Sabes más que pescado frito (fried fish)” which is a saying in some Latin American regions, a game of words to tell someone who knows a lot about a subject (because fried fish has a lot of flavor, you know) and they use the word “Sabes” to refer to the double use of that word “know” and “taste”.
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