Present of saber, haber, ler and crer

Level 2

Saber (to know) starts with sei, haber goes hei, has, ha, and ler (to read) and crer (to believe) use single-e forms, as in Non sei (I do not know) and Le moito (she reads a lot).

How It Works

Saber (to know, to know how to): sei, sabes, sabe, sabemos, sabedes, saben. With an infinitive it means knowing how to do something: Sabes nadar? (Can you swim?). For knowing people and places, Galician uses coñecer; see saber vs coñecer.

Haber: hei, has, ha, habemos, habedes, han. You may also hear the shorter hemos, hedes. Its main job is haber de + infinitive, for obligation, firm intention or the future: Hei de chamala mañá (I must call her tomorrow). Its impersonal form is hai (there is, there are). Write ha with h; a without it is the article or the preposition.

No haber for the perfect: Galician does not build a perfect tense with haber + participle the way English and Spanish do. Use the simple preterite: Xa comín (I have already eaten).

Ler (to read): leo, les, le, lemos, ledes, len.
Crer (to believe): creo, cres, cre, cremos, credes, cren.
When the ending begins with e, the two e's merge into one: le (not lee), cren (not creen). Only the eu forms leo and creo keep two vowels. The subjunctives are lea and crea.

Saber and haber in the subjunctive: both are irregular there too: saiba and haxa.

Crer que: Creo que si (I think so) and Creo que chove (I think it is raining) take the indicative; negated, non creo que takes the subjunctive.

Examples (6)

  1. Non sei.

    I do not know.

    Word by Word: Not know-I.

    Sei is the irregular eu form of saber.

  2. Sabes nadar?

    Can you swim?

    Word by Word: Know-you swim?

    Saber + infinitive means knowing how to do something.

  3. Le moito.

    She reads a lot.

    Word by Word: Reads much.

    Le has a single e.

  4. Lemos o xornal todas as mañás.

    We read the newspaper every morning.

    Word by Word: Read-we the newspaper all the mornings.

    The nós form lemos also has one e.

  5. Cres nel?

    Do you believe in him?

    Word by Word: Believe-you in-him?

    Cres is the ti form of crer; nel is en + el.

  6. Hei de chamala mañá.

    I must call her tomorrow.

    Word by Word: Have-I of call-her tomorrow.

    Hei is the eu form of haber, used here in haber de + infinitive.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the Spanish form for "I know".

    Non sé.
    Non sei.

    The eu form of saber is sei.

  • Doubling the e in ler.

    Ela lee moito.
    Ela le moito.

    In Galician the two e's merge: le, les, len.

  • Doubling the e in crer.

    Eles non creen nada.
    Eles non cren nada.

    Crer works like ler: cre, cres, cren.

How It Connects

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Present of saber, haber, ler and crerLevel 2

Learn This First

Saber, haber, ler and crer have specific present forms used in familiar constructions.

Words in This Pattern

haberlercrer