Connaître: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in French
Introduction
Connaître means “to know (a person)”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in French — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for connaître, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with connaître, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the French first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Je connais Marie depuis longtemps tous les jours.” — “I know Marie for a long time every day.”
- “Tu connais Paris très bien tous les jours.” — “You know Paris very well every day.”
- “J'ai connu un bon restaurant ici cette semaine.” — “I have known a good restaurant here this week.”
- “Il connaissait Marie depuis longtemps autrefois.” — “He used to know Marie for a long time in the past.”
- “Nous connaîtrons Paris très bien demain.” — “We will know Paris very well tomorrow.”
- “Tu as connu un bon restaurant ici cette semaine.” — “You have known a good restaurant here this week.”
- “Je connaîtrais Marie depuis longtemps un jour.” — “I would know Marie for a long time one day.”
- “Il est important que il connaisse Paris très bien.” — “It is important that he know Paris very well.”
- “Nous avions connu un bon restaurant ici avant la fête.” — “We had known a good restaurant here before the party.”
- “Il connaîtra Marie depuis longtemps demain.” — “He will know Marie for a long time tomorrow.”
- “Ils connaissent Paris très bien tous les jours.” — “They know Paris very well every day.”
- “Connais un bon restaurant ici !” — “Know a good restaurant here!”
A short dialogue
Marie and Pierre are talking about Marie for a long time. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how connaître changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of connaître below is taken from the verified tables.
Marie : Tu fais quoi, ce soir ? Pierre : “Je connais Marie depuis longtemps tous les jours.” — “I know Marie for a long time every day.” Marie : Et demain ? Pierre : “Je connaîtrai Paris très bien demain.” — “I will know Paris very well tomorrow.” Marie : Tu as fait ça hier aussi ? Pierre : “J'ai connu un bon restaurant ici cette semaine.” — “I have known a good restaurant here this week.” Marie : Tu ferais ça un jour ? Pierre : “Je connaîtrais Marie depuis longtemps un jour.” — “I would know Marie for a long time one day.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the passé composé for yesterday, and the conditional for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Connaître in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of connaître that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, connaître describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The je form is connais: “Je connais Marie depuis longtemps tous les jours.” — “I know Marie for a long time every day.”
The imperfect: the past as it used to be
In the imperfect, connaître describes the past as it used to be — background, habit, an action in progress. The il form is connaissait: “Il connaissait Paris très bien autrefois.” — “He used to know Paris very well in the past.”
The passé composé: finished actions
In the passé composé, connaître reports one finished action, built with avoir plus the participle connu. The je form is ai connu: “J'ai connu un bon restaurant ici cette semaine.” — “I have known a good restaurant here this week.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, connaître talks about what will happen. The nous form is connaîtrons: “Nous connaîtrons Marie depuis longtemps demain.” — “We will know Marie for a long time tomorrow.”
The conditional: what would happen
In the conditional, connaître talks about what would happen. The tu form is connaîtrais: “Tu connaîtrais Paris très bien un jour.” — “You would know Paris very well one day.”
The subjunctive: wishes and doubts
In the subjunctive, connaître appears after triggers such as il est important que. The form is connaisse, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Il est important que je connaisse un bon restaurant ici.” — “It is important that I know a good restaurant here.”
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je connaître Marie depuis longtemps.”
✓ Right: “Je connais Marie depuis longtemps.”
The infinitive connaître never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated form connais.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Tu connais Marie depuis longtemps.”
✓ Right: “Tu connais Marie depuis longtemps.”
connais is the je form. With tu you need connais. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Je connais Marie depuis longtemps hier.”
✓ Right: “Je ai connu Marie depuis longtemps hier.”
The time word hier points to the past, so a finished action needs the passé composé ai connu, not the present.
Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que tu connais Paris très bien.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que tu connaisses Paris très bien.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive: connaisses, not the indicative connais.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je connu Marie depuis longtemps.”
✓ Right: “Je ai connu Marie depuis longtemps.”
The passé composé of connaître needs the auxiliary avoir plus the participle connu: the full je form is ai connu.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on connaître. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of connaître in the Present indicative?
- A) connaissez
- B) connais
- C) connaît
- D) connaissons
What is the tu form of connaître in the Present indicative?
- A) connaissez
- B) connais
- C) connaît
- D) connaissons
What is the il/elle form of connaître in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) a connu
- B) ai connu
- C) as connu
- D) avons connu
What is the nous form of connaître in the Imperfect?
- A) connaissiez
- B) connaissions
- C) connaissais
- D) connaissait
What is the tu form of connaître in the Future?
- A) connaîtrons
- B) connaîtras
- C) connaîtrai
- D) connaîtra
What is the je form of connaître in the Conditional?
- A) connaîtrais
- B) connaîtrait
- C) connaîtrions
- D) connaîtriez
What is the il/elle form of connaître in the Present subjunctive?
- A) connaissiez
- B) connaisse
- C) connaisses
- D) connaissions
What is the je form of connaître in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) aviez connu
- B) avais connu
- C) avait connu
- D) avions connu
What is the gerund of connaître?
- A) en connaissant
- B) en devenant
- C) en revenant
- D) en écrivant
What does connaître mean in English?
- A) to write
- B) to know (a person)
- C) to become
- D) to come back
Answer key
- B) connais — the je form of connaître in the Present indicative is connais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) connais — the tu form of connaître in the Present indicative is connais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) a connu — the il/elle form of connaître in the Present perfect (passé composé) is a connu. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) connaissions — the nous form of connaître in the Imperfect is connaissions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) connaîtras — the tu form of connaître in the Future is connaîtras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) connaîtrais — the je form of connaître in the Conditional is connaîtrais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) connaisse — the il/elle form of connaître in the Present subjunctive is connaisse. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) avais connu — the je form of connaître in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is avais connu. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) en connaissant — the gerund of connaître is en connaissant. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- B) to know (a person) — connaître means “to know (a person)” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does connaître mean in English?
connaître means “to know (a person)”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is connaître regular or irregular?
connaître is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative, past-participle. The gerund is connaissant and the past participle is connu.
How do I practise connaître every day?
Say one sentence with connaître in the present, one in the passé composé and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Je connais Marie depuis longtemps tous les jours.”, “J'ai connu Marie depuis longtemps cette semaine.” and “Je connaîtrai Marie depuis longtemps demain.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for connaître, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of connaître — every tense of connaître in one place.
- Connaître in the passé composé tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Connaître examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Devenir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Revenir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Écrire conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- French irregular verbs — every common irregular French verb, grouped by pattern.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — practise connaître with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise connaître with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise connaître with the interactive tool.