saber

English

Pronunciation

• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈseɪ.bɚ/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈseɪ.bə(ɹ)/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪbə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: sa‧ber

Noun

saber (plural sabers)

1. (American spelling) Alternative form of sabre
2. Clipping of lightsaber

Verb

saber (third-person singular simple present sabers, present participle sabering, simple past and past participle sabered)

1. (American spelling) Alternative form of sabre

Translations

Anagrams

• BSAer, Bares, Brase, Breas, bares, barse, baser, bears, besra, braes, rabes, sabre

Asturian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin sapere (“taste, know”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saˈbeɾ/,

Verb

saber

1. to know

Related terms

• sabor

Catalan

Alternative forms

• sabre, sebre (directly from Latin sapĕre)
• sapiguer (dialectal)

Etymology

Inherited from Old Catalan saber, from Vulgar Latin *sapēre, from Latin sapĕre (“taste, know”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

saber (first-person singular present sé, first-person singular preterite sabí, past participle sabut)

1. to know (a fact), to have knowledge
2. to know how to

Conjugation

Derived terms

• saber greu
• sabràs dos i dos quants fan

Related terms

• sabor

Noun

saber m (plural sabers)

1. knowledge, know-how

See also

• conèixer (“to be familiar with”)

References

• “saber” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “saber”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “saber” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “saber” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese saber, from Latin sapere (“taste, know”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saˈbeɾ/

Verb

saber (first-person singular present sei, first-person singular preterite souben, past participle sabido)
saber (first-person singular present sei, first-person singular preterite soubem or soube, past participle sabido, reintegrationist norm)

1. to know (a fact)
2. to know how to do (something)

   Val máis saber que ter (proverb)

   Better to know than to have

3. to find out
4. (intransitive) to taste, to have a taste

   Sabe ben! ― It tastes good!

5. (takes a reflexive pronoun) to like, enjoy

   A min sábeme o caldo. ― I like broth / I like this broth.

Usage notes

Like Portuguese and Spanish, Galician has two different verbs that are usually translated to English as “to know”. The verb saber relates to factual knowledge and skills. In contrast, the verb coñecer relates to familiarity with people or places.

Conjugation

Currently, it is not known where the first person singular form that is currently used for the present indicative, "sei", originates from.

Derived terms

• seica

Related terms

• sabor

See also

• coñecer

Noun

saber m (plural saberes)

1. knowledge, know-how

References

• “saber” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
• “saber” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
• “saber” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “saber” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “saber” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Occitan

Alternative forms

• saupre

Etymology

Inherited from Old Occitan saber, from Vulgar Latin *sapēre, from Latin sapĕre (“taste, know”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Béarn)

  (file)

Verb

saber

1. to know

   Antonym: ignorar

Conjugation

    Lengadocian (Central Occitan)

		simple			compound
infinitive		saber			aver sauput
gerund		sabent			use gerund of avent + past participle
past participle		sauput			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	sabi, sai	sabes, sas	sap	sabèm	sabètz	sabon
	imperfect	sabiái	sabiás	sabiá	sabiam	sabiatz	sabián
	preterite	saupèri	saupères	saupèt	saupèrem	saupèretz	saupèron
	future	sauprai	saupràs	sauprà	sauprem	saupretz	saupràn
	conditional	saupriái	saupriás	saupriá	saupriam	saupriatz	sauprián
	conditional 2nd form1	{{{49}}}	{{{50}}}	{{{51}}}	{{{52}}}	{{{53}}}	{{{54}}}
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	sàpia	sàpias	sàpia	sapiam	sapiatz	sàpian
	imperfect	saupèsse	saupèsses	saupèsse	saupèssem	saupèssetz	saupèsson
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			sap		sapiam	sabètz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

Related terms

• sabor

Old Occitan

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *sapēre, from Latin sapĕre (“taste, know”).

Verb

saber

1. to taste (have a certain taste)
2. to know

Noun

saber m (oblique plural sabers, nominative singular sabers, nominative plural saber)

1. knowledge

Related terms

• sabor (noun)

Descendants

• Catalan: saber

References

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “sapere”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volumes 11: S–Si, page 193

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese saber, from Latin sapere (“taste, know”).

The 1SG reflects an original */ˈsajᵒ/, in common with other Romance languages, of uncertain origin. The present subjunctive forms show consonant metathesis (sapiām > */ˈsajpa/ > Pt. saiba).

Pronunciation

• (Rural Central Brazil) IPA^(key): /sɐˈbe(ɹ)/
• Hyphenation: sa‧ber

Verb

saber (first-person singular present sei, first-person singular preterite soube, past participle sabido)

1. to know
   2. (intransitive) to be aware of a fact

      Perguntaram-me a resposta, mas eu não sabia. ― They asked me the answer, but I didn’t know.

      Sei que é verdade. ― I know it’s true.

   4. (transitive) to be aware of a value or piece of information
      • 2003, J. K. Rowling, Lia Wyler, Harry Potter e a Ordem da Fênix, Rocco, page 46:

        Olho-Tonto, você sabe que isso é nojento, não sabe?

        Mad-Eye, you know that this is disgusting, don't you?

      Eu sei qual é a capital da Assíria. ― I know what is the capital of Assyria.

      Ele sabe duzentos algarismos do número neperiano. ― He knows two hundred digits of Euler’s number.

   5. (auxiliary with a verb in the impersonal infinitive) to know how to do something

      Não sei fazer isso, mas ela sabe. ― I don’t know how to do this, but she knows.

      Sabes falar russo? ― Can you speak Russian?

3. (transitive with de or sobre) to know about; to have heard about

   Soube da explosão que houve no centro? ― Have you heard about the downtown explosion?

4. (Portugal) (transitive with a) to taste of (to have the same taste as)

   Um bom vinho sabe a carvalho. ― A good wine tastes like oak.

5. (Portugal) to have a pleasant taste

   Como sabe esse vinho! ― How good does this wine taste!

6. to learn (to become informed of something)

   Eles querem saber mais sobre o projeto. ― They want to learn more about the project.

Usage notes

• saber does not mean to know in the sense of knowing someone (who they are); for that, conhecer should be used instead.
• although nonstandard, some speakers change the conjugation for the first person singular depending on the meaning of the verb: it is conjugated as sei if it means to know, but as saibo if it means to taste. Aside from this case, all the other verb forms are homonymous.

Conjugation

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:saber.

Synonyms

• (to know a value): conhecer
• (to know how to do something): conseguir
• (to taste of): ter gosto de

Descendants

• Macau Pidgin Portuguese: 撒㗑, 撒備, 散拜
  • → Chinese Pidgin English: savvy, sarby

Noun

saber m (plural saberes)

1. knowledge; lore (intellectual understanding)

   Synonyms: conhecimento, sabedoria

Derived terms

• dar a saber
• sabe-tudo

Related terms

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin sapere (“taste, know”). Compare English savvy, savor.

The 1SG reflects an original */ˈsajᵒ/, in common with other Romance languages, of uncertain origin. The present subjunctive forms show consonant metathesis (sapiām > */ˈsajpa/ > Sp. sepa).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saˈbeɾ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: sa‧ber

Verb

saber (first-person singular present sé, first-person singular preterite supe, past participle sabido)

1. to know (a fact), to wit

   Sé que volverá. ― I know that it'll come back.

   Lo siguiente que sé... ― Next thing I know...

   que yo sepa ― as far as I know

   Si tu supieras... ― If you knew...

2. to know how to do something

   Sabe hablar español.

   He knows how to speak Spanish.

3. (in the preterite tense) to find out, to learn
4. to taste

   Sabe a pollo. ― It tastes like chicken.

5. to realize, to know (e.g. recognize)

   El hombre no sabe lo talentoso que su hijo es.

   The man doesn't realize how talented his son is.

6. to tell, to know (i.e. to discern or distinguish if something is the case)

   Siempre es difícil saber si me mientes.

   It's always hard to tell if you're lying to me.

7. (informal) to figure out

   Todavía estamos tratando de saber qué acaba de pasar.

   We're still trying to figure out what just happened.

8. to hear from (+ de)

   No he sabido nada de ella en meses.

   I haven't heard from her in months.

9. to hear of, to hear about, (+ de)
10. to learn of, to learn about, to find out about, to know about (+ de)
11. (reflexive) to be known

    Ya se sabe que uno de los factores que aceleran esta enfermedad es el estrés.

    It is known that one of the factors that speeds up this disease is stress.

12. (reflexive) to know (extremely well)

    He oído que te sabes todas las líneas de la película de memoria.

    I heard that you know all the lines of the movie by heart.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

Noun

saber m (plural saberes)

1. knowledge

Derived terms

See also

• conocer (“to know a person or place”)
• saborear

Further reading

• “saber”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014