connaître

Irregular Verb Connaitre (To Know/be Familiar with)

Level 1

Connaître means 'to know' in the sense of being familiar with or acquainted with someone or something. It is always followed by a noun (a person, a city, a book, etc.).

How It Works

1. Conjugation Pattern
Connaître is an irregular verb from the 3rd group. It uses two different stems:

  • Singular (je, tu, il/elle/on): The stem is connai- (e.g., je connais).
  • Plural (nous, vous, ils/elles): The stem is connaiss- (e.g., nous connaissons).

2. The Circumflex Rule
In traditional spelling, the î only appears when followed by a t (il connaît). In all other forms, it is a regular i. Note that since the 1990 orthographic reform, writing il connait without the accent is also acceptable, though the accented version remains very common.

3. When to use it
Use connaître for:

  • People: Je connais Marie. (I know Marie.)
  • Places: Tu connais Lyon ? (Do you know/Have you been to Lyon?)
  • Things/Works: Elle connaît ce film. (She knows/is familiar with this movie.)

4. Important Restriction
Connaître can never be followed by a verb or a clause starting with que, si, or où. For those cases, you must use savoir.

Examples (5)

  1. Je connais bien cette ville.

    I know this city well.

    Word by Word: I know well this city.

    Use 'connaître' because the object is a place (this city).

  2. Est-ce que tu connais mon frère ?

    Do you know my brother?

    Word by Word: Is it that you know my brother?

    Use 'connaître' for people you are acquainted with.

  3. Nous connaissons ce restaurant.

    We know this restaurant.

    Word by Word: We know this restaurant.

    Notice the double 's' (connaissons) used in the plural forms.

  4. Il connaît l'histoire de France.

    He knows French history.

    Word by Word: He knows the history of France.

    In traditional spelling, the 'i' takes a circumflex before the 't'.

  5. Elles ne connaissent pas cette chanson.

    They don't know this song.

    Word by Word: They not know not this song.

    Even for abstract things like songs, 'connaître' implies familiarity.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'connaître' before a 'que' clause.

    Je connais qu'il est là.
    Je sais qu'il est là.

    'Connaître' is only for nouns. To introduce a fact with 'que' (that), you must use 'savoir'.

  • Using 'savoir' for people.

    Je sais ton ami.
    Je connais ton ami.

    You cannot 'savoir' a person; you can only be familiar with them using 'connaître'.

  • Forgetting the double 's' in plural forms.

    Nous connaisons.
    Nous connaissons.

    The plural stem of 'connaître' always requires the double 's' to maintain the /s/ sound.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

connaîtreLevel 1Irregular Verb Connaitre (To Know/be Familiar with)

Learn This First

To learn the present tense of 'connaître', you first need to be comfortable with French subject pronouns. It is also helpful to understand the regular -re verb conjugation pattern, as 'connaître' follows some of those conventions while introducing its own irregular stem changes (like the double 's' in plural forms).

Words in This Pattern

connaitre