Languages are different in some respects. Therefore, you can have one word in English and two in Spanish, or vice versa. Regarding verbs, we have:
to be: ser, estar
to have: haber, tener
to know: saber, conocer
to ask: pedir, preguntar
We will study today the last two. Here they are in the present tense:
SABER: sé, sabes, sabe, sabemos, sabéis, saben
CONOCER: conozco, conoces, conoce, conocemos, conocéis, conocen
PEDIR: pido, pides, pide, pedimos, pedís, piden
PREGUNTAR: pregunto, preguntas, pregunta, preguntamos, preguntáis, preguntan
There are grammatical rules to know when to use one or the other.
SABER: sé tocar el piano, sé que estudias español
. it means to know how to do something or to know something as a fact
. it is intellectual knowledge
. it takes time to acquire this knowledge, because we have to learn
. it is followed by an infinitive (verbal forms ending in AR, ER, IR), pronouns (que, qué, quién, quiénes, cuál, cuáles, cómo, dónde, cuándo, cuánto) or the conditional “si”: I know how to do a paella, I know where does Carmen live, I don’t know if I have time today (sé hacer una paella, sé dónde vive Carmen, no sé si tengo tiempo hoy). ‘Hacer’ is an infinitive, ‘dónde’ is a pronoun, ‘si’ is the conditional particle. We can also use this verb followed by the pronoun “algo”, as in Do you know something about John? (¿sabes algo sobre Juan?).
It is also frequent to use ‘saber’ followed by ‘de’, as in He knows about maths (sabe de matemáticas), meaning that a person is a kind of expert in the area.
Sometimes, instead of using ‘saber’ followed by a pronoun, as in I know his telephone number (sé cuál es su número de teléfono), you will hear sé su número de teléfono. Some people say it to speak faster, although it is not correct. Of course, you can blame the English influence for this mistake.
‘Saber’ has an alternative meaning connected with flavours. It tastes like garlic (sabe a ajo). Notice that ‘flavour’ is ‘sabor’ in Spanish.
CONOCER: conozco ese parque, conozco a María
. it is visual or sensorial knowledge. I saw or heard something before, and I know it. No need to learn anything.
. it doesn’t take time, you recognise something or somebody on the spot, simply because you saw it or heard it before.
. it is followed by nouns. If you are not sure about what a noun is, read blog number 49 about types of words.
PEDIR vs PREGUNTAR:
Pedir is ‘to request’: I ask you a favour, I ask you a coffee (te pido un favor, te pido un café).
Preguntar is ‘to make a question’, which is ‘una pregunta’: I asked him his name, I asked him his address (le pregunté su nombre, le pregunté su dirección).
