Mastering the French Verb Savoir: Understanding its Versatility Across Tenses
Mastering the French verb savoir is an essential step in gaining fluency. Whether you’re talking about knowing a fact, discovering something new, or explaining how to do something, savoir is the verb you need. However, its usage can sometimes feel confusing. Its meaning changes depending on the tense. For example, did you know that savoir in the passé composé means “to find out,” while in the imperfect, it simply means “to know”? You can download a PDF of this lesson guide in my private French Grammar Library.
Introduction to Savoir – Meaning Changes Across Tenses
Let’s explore how the meaning of savoir changes across different tenses: present, passé composé, imperfect, and present conditional.
Followed Directly by an Infinitive
When savoir is followed by an infinitive, it does not require a preposition, and it expresses how to do something. We will look at many examples of using savoir this way as we explore different tenses.
Meanings Across Tenses
Present Tense
In the present tense, savoir conveys the idea of knowing facts or information, or knowing how to do something. When followed directly by an infinitive, it means ‘to know how to’ perform an action.
Examples
| Person | Conjugation | Example |
| Je | sais | Je sais nager. I know how to swim. |
| Tu | sais | Tu sais la réponse. You know the answer. |
| Il/Elle/On | sait | Il sait lire. He knows how to read. |
| Nous | savons | Nous savons la vérité. We know the truth. |
| Vous | savez | Vous savez conduire. You know how to drive. |
| Il/Elle/On | sait | Il sait conduire. He knows how to drive. |
Passé Composé
In the passé composé, savoir means “to learn” or “to find out” something for the first time. This is a key difference from its imperfect usage, where it means “to know” in an ongoing or habitual sense.
Examples
| Person | Conjugation | Example |
| J’ | ai su | J’ai su la nouvelle hier. I found out the news yesterday. |
| Tu | as su | Tu as su la vérité. You found out the truth. |
| Il/Elle/On | a su | Elle a su quoi faire. She found out what to do. |
| Nous | avons su | Nous avons su qu’il venait. We found out he was coming. |
| Vous | avez su | Vous avez su la réponse. You found out the answer. |
| Ils/Elles | ont su | Ils ont su le résultat. They found out the result. |
Imperfect
In the imperfect tense, savoir refers to an ongoing state of knowing something in the past. This contrasts with the passé composé, which refers to discovering or learning something.
Examples
| Person | Conjugation | Example |
| Je | savais | Je savais qu’il était là. I knew he was there. |
| Tu | savais | Tu savais son nom. You knew his name. |
| Il/Elle/On | savait | Elle savait jouer du piano. She knew how to play the piano. |
| Nous | savions | Nous savions la réponse. We knew the answer. |
| Vous | saviez | Vous saviez quoi dire. You knew what to say. |
| Ils/Elles | savaient | Ils savaient où aller. They knew where to go. |
Present Conditional
In the present conditional, savoir is used to express a hypothetical ability or knowledge. It often translates as ‘would know’ or ‘would know how to’ in English.
Examples
| Person | Conjugation | Example |
| Je | saurais | Je saurais quoi dire. I would know what to say. |
| Tu | saurais | Tu saurais comment réagir. You would know how to react. |
| Il/Elle/On | saurait | Elle saurait parler français. She would know how to speak French. |
| Nous | saurions | Nous saurions résoudre ce problème. We would know how to solve this problem. |
| Vous | sauriez | Vous sauriez expliquer cela. You would know how to explain that. |
| Ils/Elles | sauraient | Ils sauraient répondre. They would know how to answer. |
Summary of Meanings by Tense
Present: To know facts or how to do something.
Passé Composé: To learn or find out something for the first time.
Imperfect: To know something in an ongoing or habitual way in the past.
Present Conditional: To know hypothetically or to express what one would know.
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