Conocer Conjugation in Spanish
conocer means “know” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 31 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for knowing people, for knowing places, and for meeting someone for the first time. Because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of conocer — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Yo conozco a María todos los días.” — “I know María every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: conocer
- English: to know
- Verb type: Irregular — spelling-changing
- Irregular in: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative
- Gerund: conociendo
- Past participle: conocido
- Auxiliary: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + the past participle)
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for conocer. Learn the present tense first, then the preterite and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | conozco |
| tú | conoces |
| él/ella/Ud. | conoce |
| nosotros/as | conocemos |
| vosotros/as | conocéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | conocen |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | conocí |
| tú | conociste |
| él/ella/Ud. | conoció |
| nosotros/as | conocimos |
| vosotros/as | conocisteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | conocieron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | conocía |
| tú | conocías |
| él/ella/Ud. | conocía |
| nosotros/as | conocíamos |
| vosotros/as | conocíais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | conocían |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | conoceré |
| tú | conocerás |
| él/ella/Ud. | conocerá |
| nosotros/as | conoceremos |
| vosotros/as | conoceréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | conocerán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | conocería |
| tú | conocerías |
| él/ella/Ud. | conocería |
| nosotros/as | conoceríamos |
| vosotros/as | conoceríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | conocerían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he conocido |
| tú | has conocido |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha conocido |
| nosotros/as | hemos conocido |
| vosotros/as | habéis conocido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han conocido |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había conocido |
| tú | habías conocido |
| él/ella/Ud. | había conocido |
| nosotros/as | habíamos conocido |
| vosotros/as | habíais conocido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían conocido |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré conocido |
| tú | habrás conocido |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá conocido |
| nosotros/as | habremos conocido |
| vosotros/as | habréis conocido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán conocido |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría conocido |
| tú | habrías conocido |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría conocido |
| nosotros/as | habríamos conocido |
| vosotros/as | habríais conocido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían conocido |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | conozca |
| tú | conozcas |
| él/ella/Ud. | conozca |
| nosotros/as | conozcamos |
| vosotros/as | conocáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | conozcan |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | conociera |
| tú | conocieras |
| él/ella/Ud. | conociera |
| nosotros/as | conociéramos |
| vosotros/as | conocierais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | conocieran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | conoce |
| él/ella/Ud. | conozca |
| nosotros/as | conozcamos |
| vosotros/as | conoced |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | conozcan |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | conozcas |
| él/ella/Ud. | conozca |
| nosotros/as | conozcamos |
| vosotros/as | conocáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | conozcan |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | conociendo |
| Past participle | conocido |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With conocer this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Yo conozco a María todos los días.” — “I know María every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. For example: “Tú conociste Madrid muy bien ayer.” — “You knew Madrid very well yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él conocía a un buen médico aquí antes.” — “He used to know a good doctor here before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. For example: “Yo conoceré a María mañana.” — “I will know María tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Tú conocerías Madrid muy bien algún día.” — “You would know Madrid very well someday.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience, formed with haber + the past participle. For example: “Él ha conocido a un buen médico aquí esta semana.” — “He has known a good doctor here this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Yo había conocido a María antes de la fiesta.” — “I had known María before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tú habrás conocido Madrid muy bien para mañana.” — “You will have known Madrid very well by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Él habría conocido a un buen médico aquí ayer.” — “He would have known a good doctor here yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. With conocer this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Es importante que yo conozca a María.” — “It is important that i know María.”
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, and clauses after a past-tense trigger. For example: “Ojalá tú conocieras Madrid muy bien.” — “I wish you knew Madrid very well.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. With conocer this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “¡Conoce a un buen médico aquí!” — “Know a good doctor here!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. With conocer this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “No conozcas a María.” — “Do not know María.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with conocer, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo conozco a María todos los días.” — “I know María every day.”
- “Tú conociste Madrid muy bien ayer.” — “You knew Madrid very well yesterday.”
- “Él conocía a un buen médico aquí antes.” — “He used to know a good doctor here before.”
- “Yo conoceré Madrid muy bien mañana.” — “I will know Madrid very well tomorrow.”
- “Tú conocerías a María algún día.” — “You would know María someday.”
- “Él ha conocido a un buen médico aquí esta semana.” — “He has known a good doctor here this week.”
- “Yo había conocido a María antes de la fiesta.” — “I had known María before the party.”
- “Tú habrás conocido Madrid muy bien para mañana.” — “You will have known Madrid very well by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él conozca a un buen médico aquí.” — “It is important that he know a good doctor here.”
- “¡Conoce a María!” — “Know María!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo conocer a María.”
✓ Right: “Yo conozco a María.”
The infinitive conocer never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form conozco.
2. Confusing conocer with saber
✗ Wrong: “Yo sé a María.”
✓ Right: “Yo conozco a María.”
Conocer is to know people and places; saber is to know facts.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy conocido a María.”
✓ Right: “Yo he conocido a María.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle conocido.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “conoci”
✓ Right: “conocí”
The accent on conocí is part of the spelling in the preterite. Without it the form looks like a different word, so always write the accent.
5. Forgetting the spelling change in the present
✗ Wrong: “Yo conoco.”
✓ Right: “Yo conozco.”
conocer changes c to zc in the yo form of the present, so it is conozco, not the regular stem.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo conocí a María antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo conocía a María antes.”
The preterite conocí describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect conocía.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on conocer. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of conocer in the Present indicative?
- A) conoces
- B) conoce
- C) conocemos
- D) conozco
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of conocer in the Preterite?
- A) conociste
- B) conocimos
- C) conoció
- D) conocí
What is the nosotros/as form of conocer in the Imperfect?
- A) conocíais
- B) conocíamos
- C) conocía
- D) conocías
What is the tú form of conocer in the Future?
- A) conocerás
- B) conoceré
- C) conocerá
- D) conoceremos
What is the yo form of conocer in the Conditional?
- A) conocerías
- B) conoceríamos
- C) conoceríais
- D) conocería
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of conocer in the Present subjunctive?
- A) conozcamos
- B) conocáis
- C) conozca
- D) conozcas
What is the yo form of conocer in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) conocierais
- B) conociera
- C) conocieras
- D) conociéramos
What is the gerund of conocer?
- A) conociendo
- B) tomando
- C) viviendo
- D) sintiendo
What is the past participle of conocer?
- A) tomado
- B) vivido
- C) sentido
- D) conocido
What does conocer mean in English?
- A) to live
- B) to feel
- C) to know
- D) to take
Answer key
- D) conozco — the yo form of conocer in the present indicative is conozco. The other options (conoces, conoce, conocemos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) conoció — the él/ella/Ud. form of conocer in the preterite is conoció. The other options (conocí, conociste, conocimos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) conocíamos — the nosotros/as form of conocer in the imperfect is conocíamos. The other options (conocía, conocías, conocía) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) conocerás — the tú form of conocer in the future is conocerás. The other options (conoceré, conocerá, conoceremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) conocería — the yo form of conocer in the conditional is conocería. The other options (conocerías, conocería, conoceríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) conozca — the él/ella/Ud. form of conocer in the present subjunctive is conozca. The other options (conozca, conozcas, conozcamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) conociera — the yo form of conocer in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is conociera. The other options (conocieras, conociera, conociéramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) conociendo — the gerund of conocer is conociendo; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) conocido — the past participle of conocer is conocido; perfect tenses use haber + conocido. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to know — conocer means “to know” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does conocer mean in English?
conocer means “to know”. You use it for knowing people, for knowing places, and for meeting someone for the first time. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is conocer regular or irregular?
conocer is irregular — spelling-changing, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is conociendo and the past participle is conocido.
What are the gerund and past participle of conocer?
The gerund is conociendo — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is conocido — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he conocido (I have known).
What is the difference between conocer and saber?
Conocer is to know people and places; saber is to know facts. If you are unsure, check the full table for saber and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I know” in Spanish?
Say “Yo conozco a María.” — “I know María every day.” The yo form of the present is conozco, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- conocer in the preterite tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- conocer examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Spanish irregular verbs — every common irregular Spanish verb, grouped by pattern.
- Tomar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Vivir conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Sentir conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Present tense guide — how the present tense works for regular verbs.
- Preterite tense guide — how the preterite works, and when to choose it over the imperfect.
- Verb Conjugator — practise conocer with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise conocer with the interactive tool.
- Preterite Vs Imperfect — practise conocer with the interactive tool.