connaître

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See also: connaitre

French

Alternative forms

Etymology

Inherited from Old French conoistre, from Late Latin conōscere, from Latin cognōscere.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kɔ.nɛtʁ/
  • audio(file)

Verb

connaître

  1. (transitive) to know (of), to be familiar with (a person, place, fact, event)
  2. (transitive) to know, to experience (glory, hunger, problems etc.)
  3. (transitive, archaic, euphemistic) to know (sexually)
  4. (takes a reflexive pronoun) to be knowledgeable (en about)
    C’est toi qui t’y connais! ― You're the expert! (literally, “It is you who knows!”)
  5. (law, somewhat archaic) to hear or examine judicially; to judge or decide judicially
    • 1849 August 9, “Loi du 9 août 1849 sur l'état de siège [Law of 9 August 1849 on State of Siege]”, in Légifrance‎, published 2004-12-21:
      Après la levée de l’état de siège, les tribunaux militaires continuent de connaître des crimes et délits dont la poursuite leur avait été déférée.
      After the lifting of the state of siege, the military tribunals continue to address crimes and offences whose prosecution has been submitted to them.

Usage notes

In the sense of "to know something to be true", the verb savoir is used.

Conjugation

This verb is one of a fairly small group of -re verbs, that are all conjugated the same way. They are unlike other verb groups in that the 'i' is given a circumflex before a 't'.

Conjugation of connaître (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple connaître
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple connaissant
/kɔ.nɛ.sɑ̃/ or /kɔ.ne.sɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle connu
/kɔ.ny/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present connais
/kɔ.nɛ/ 		connais
/kɔ.nɛ/ 		connaît
/kɔ.nɛ/ 		connaissons
/kɔ.nɛ.sɔ̃/ or /kɔ.ne.sɔ̃/ 		connaissez
/kɔ.nɛ.se/ or /kɔ.ne.se/ 		connaissent
/kɔ.nɛs/
imperfect connaissais
/kɔ.nɛ.sɛ/ or /kɔ.ne.sɛ/ 		connaissais
/kɔ.nɛ.sɛ/ or /kɔ.ne.sɛ/ 		connaissait
/kɔ.nɛ.sɛ/ or /kɔ.ne.sɛ/ 		connaissions
/kɔ.nɛ.sjɔ̃/ or /kɔ.ne.sjɔ̃/ 		connaissiez
/kɔ.nɛ.sje/ or /kɔ.ne.sje/ 		connaissaient
/kɔ.nɛ.sɛ/ or /kɔ.ne.sɛ/
past historic2 connus
/kɔ.ny/ 		connus
/kɔ.ny/ 		connut
/kɔ.ny/ 		connûmes
/kɔ.nym/ 		connûtes
/kɔ.nyt/ 		connurent
/kɔ.nyʁ/
future connaîtrai
/kɔ.nɛ.tʁe/ or /kɔ.ne.tʁe/ 		connaîtras
/kɔ.nɛ.tʁa/ or /kɔ.ne.tʁa/ 		connaîtra
/kɔ.nɛ.tʁa/ or /kɔ.ne.tʁa/ 		connaîtrons
/kɔ.nɛ.tʁɔ̃/ or /kɔ.ne.tʁɔ̃/ 		connaîtrez
/kɔ.nɛ.tʁe/ or /kɔ.ne.tʁe/ 		connaîtront
/kɔ.nɛ.tʁɔ̃/ or /kɔ.ne.tʁɔ̃/
conditional connaîtrais
/kɔ.nɛ.tʁɛ/ or /kɔ.ne.tʁɛ/ 		connaîtrais
/kɔ.nɛ.tʁɛ/ or /kɔ.ne.tʁɛ/ 		connaîtrait
/kɔ.nɛ.tʁɛ/ or /kɔ.ne.tʁɛ/ 		connaîtrions
/kɔ.nɛ.tʁi.jɔ̃/ or /kɔ.ne.tʁi.jɔ̃/ 		connaîtriez
/kɔ.nɛ.tʁi.je/ or /kɔ.ne.tʁi.je/ 		connaîtraient
/kɔ.nɛ.tʁɛ/ or /kɔ.ne.tʁɛ/
(compound
tenses) 		present perfect present indicative of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
past anterior2 past historic of avoir + past participle
future perfect future of avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive que je (j’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple
tenses) 		present connaisse
/kɔ.nɛs/ 		connaisses
/kɔ.nɛs/ 		connaisse
/kɔ.nɛs/ 		connaissions
/kɔ.nɛ.sjɔ̃/ or /kɔ.ne.sjɔ̃/ 		connaissiez
/kɔ.nɛ.sje/ or /kɔ.ne.sje/ 		connaissent
/kɔ.nɛs/
imperfect2 connusse
/kɔ.nys/ 		connusses
/kɔ.nys/ 		connût
/kɔ.ny/ 		connussions
/kɔ.ny.sjɔ̃/ 		connussiez
/kɔ.ny.sje/ 		connussent
/kɔ.nys/
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — connais
/kɔ.nɛ/ 		— connaissons
/kɔ.nɛ.sɔ̃/ or /kɔ.ne.sɔ̃/ 		connaissez
/kɔ.nɛ.se/ or /kɔ.ne.se/ 		—
compound — simple imperative of avoir + past participle — simple imperative of avoir + past participle simple imperative of avoir + past participle —
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
  • past historic → present perfect
  • past anterior → pluperfect
  • imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive
  • pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive

(Christopher Kendris , Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

This verb is one of a fairly small group of -re verbs, that are all conjugated the same way. They are unlike other verb groups in that the 'i' is given a circumflex before a 't'.

Conjugation of se connaître (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple se connaître
compound s'être + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple se connaissant
/sə kɔ.nɛ.sɑ̃/ or /sə kɔ.ne.sɑ̃/
compound ayant or étant + past participle
past participle connu
/kɔ.ny/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present me connais
/mə kɔ.nɛ/ 		te connais
/tə kɔ.nɛ/ 		se connaît
/sə kɔ.nɛ/ 		nous connaissons
/nu kɔ.nɛ.sɔ̃/ or /nu kɔ.ne.sɔ̃/ 		vous connaissez
/vu kɔ.nɛ.se/ or /vu kɔ.ne.se/ 		se connaissent
/sə kɔ.nɛs/
imperfect me connaissais
/mə kɔ.nɛ.sɛ/ or /mə kɔ.ne.sɛ/ 		te connaissais
/tə kɔ.nɛ.sɛ/ or /tə kɔ.ne.sɛ/ 		se connaissait
/sə kɔ.nɛ.sɛ/ or /sə kɔ.ne.sɛ/ 		nous connaissions
/nu kɔ.nɛ.sjɔ̃/ or /nu kɔ.ne.sjɔ̃/ 		vous connaissiez
/vu kɔ.nɛ.sje/ or /vu kɔ.ne.sje/ 		se connaissaient
/sə kɔ.nɛ.sɛ/ or /sə kɔ.ne.sɛ/
past historic2 me connus
/mə kɔ.ny/ 		te connus
/tə kɔ.ny/ 		se connut
/sə kɔ.ny/ 		nous connûmes
/nu kɔ.nym/ 		vous connûtes
/vu kɔ.nyt/ 		se connurent
/sə kɔ.nyʁ/
future me connaîtrai
/mə kɔ.nɛ.tʁe/ or /mə kɔ.ne.tʁe/ 		te connaîtras
/tə kɔ.nɛ.tʁa/ or /tə kɔ.ne.tʁa/ 		se connaîtra
/sə kɔ.nɛ.tʁa/ or /sə kɔ.ne.tʁa/ 		nous connaîtrons
/nu kɔ.nɛ.tʁɔ̃/ or /nu kɔ.ne.tʁɔ̃/ 		vous connaîtrez
/vu kɔ.nɛ.tʁe/ or /vu kɔ.ne.tʁe/ 		se connaîtront
/sə kɔ.nɛ.tʁɔ̃/ or /sə kɔ.ne.tʁɔ̃/
conditional me connaîtrais
/mə kɔ.nɛ.tʁɛ/ or /mə kɔ.ne.tʁɛ/ 		te connaîtrais
/tə kɔ.nɛ.tʁɛ/ or /tə kɔ.ne.tʁɛ/ 		se connaîtrait
/sə kɔ.nɛ.tʁɛ/ or /sə kɔ.ne.tʁɛ/ 		nous connaîtrions
/nu kɔ.nɛ.tʁi.jɔ̃/ or /nu kɔ.ne.tʁi.jɔ̃/ 		vous connaîtriez
/vu kɔ.nɛ.tʁi.je/ or /vu kɔ.ne.tʁi.je/ 		se connaîtraient
/sə kɔ.nɛ.tʁɛ/ or /sə kɔ.ne.tʁɛ/
(compound
tenses) 		present perfect present indicative of s'être + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of s'être + past participle
past anterior2 past historic of s'être + past participle
future perfect future of s'être + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of s'être + past participle
subjunctive que je (j’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple
tenses) 		present me connaisse
/mə kɔ.nɛs/ 		te connaisses
/tə kɔ.nɛs/ 		se connaisse
/sə kɔ.nɛs/ 		nous connaissions
/nu kɔ.nɛ.sjɔ̃/ or /nu kɔ.ne.sjɔ̃/ 		vous connaissiez
/vu kɔ.nɛ.sje/ or /vu kɔ.ne.sje/ 		se connaissent
/sə kɔ.nɛs/
imperfect2 me connusse
/mə kɔ.nys/ 		te connusses
/tə kɔ.nys/ 		se connût
/sə kɔ.ny/ 		nous connussions
/nu kɔ.ny.sjɔ̃/ 		vous connussiez
/vu kɔ.ny.sje/ 		se connussent
/sə kɔ.nys/
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of s'être + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of s'être + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — connais-toi
/kɔ.nɛ.twa/ 		— connaissons-nous
/kɔ.nɛ.sɔ̃.nu/ or /kɔ.ne.sɔ̃.nu/ 		connaissez-vous
/kɔ.nɛ.se.vu/ or /kɔ.ne.se.vu/ 		—
compound — simple imperative of s'être + past participle — simple imperative of s'être + past participle simple imperative of s'être + past participle —
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
  • past historic → present perfect
  • past anterior → pluperfect
  • imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive
  • pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive

(Christopher Kendris , Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

Further reading

Anagrams

Norman

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old French conoistre, from Late Latin conōscere, from Latin cognōscere.

Verb

connaître

  1. (Jersey) to know

Derived terms

Wikious
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Sagapedia