connaître
See also: connaitre
French
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old French conoistre, from Latin cognōscere, present active infinitive of cognōscō (probably through a Vulgar Latin *connōscere).
See cognates in regional languages in France : Norman counnaîte, Picard connoète, Bourguignon quenoître, Franco-Provençal cognêtre, Occitan conóisser or conéisser, Corsican cunnosce.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kɔ.nɛtʁ/
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audio (file)
Verb
connaître
- (transitive) to know (of), to be familiar with (a person, place, fact, event)
- (transitive) to know, to experience (glory, hunger, problems etc.)
- (transitive, archaic) to know (sexually)
- (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!”)
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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)
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | connaître | avoir connu | |||||
| gerund | en connaissant | en ayant connu | |||||
| present participle | connaissant /kɔ.nɛ.sɑ̃/ | ||||||
| past participle | connu /kɔ.ny/ | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il | nous | vous | ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | connais /kɔ.nɛ/ |
connais /kɔ.nɛ/ |
connaît /kɔ.nɛ/ |
connaissons /kɔ.nɛ.sɔ̃/ |
connaissez /kɔ.nɛ.se/ |
connaissent /kɔ.nɛs/ |
| imperfect | connaissais /kɔ.nɛ.sɛ/ |
connaissais /kɔ.nɛ.sɛ/ |
connaissait /kɔ.nɛ.sɛ/ |
connaissions /kɔ.nɛ.sjɔ̃/ |
connaissiez /kɔ.nɛ.sje/ |
connaissaient /kɔ.nɛ.sɛ/ | |
| past historic1 | connus /kɔ.ny/ |
connus /kɔ.ny/ |
connut /kɔ.ny/ |
connûmes /kɔ.nym/ |
connûtes /kɔ.nyt/ |
connurent /kɔ.nyʁ/ | |
| future | connaîtrai /kɔ.nɛ.tʁe/ |
connaîtras /kɔ.nɛ.tʁa/ |
connaîtra /kɔ.nɛ.tʁa/ |
connaîtrons /kɔ.nɛ.tʁɔ̃/ |
connaîtrez /kɔ.nɛ.tʁe/ |
connaîtront /kɔ.nɛ.tʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | connaîtrais /kɔ.nɛ.tʁɛ/ |
connaîtrais /kɔ.nɛ.tʁɛ/ |
connaîtrait /kɔ.nɛ.tʁɛ/ |
connaîtrions /kɔ.nɛ.tʁi.jɔ̃/ |
connaîtriez /kɔ.nɛ.tʁi.je/ |
connaîtraient /kɔ.nɛ.tʁɛ/ | |
| compound tenses |
present perfect | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| past anterior1 | Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il | que nous | que vous | qu’ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | connaisse /kɔ.nɛs/ |
connaisses /kɔ.nɛs/ |
connaisse /kɔ.nɛs/ |
connaissions /kɔ.nɛ.sjɔ̃/ |
connaissiez /kɔ.nɛ.sje/ |
connaissent /kɔ.nɛs/ |
| imperfect1 | connusse /kɔ.nys/ |
connusses /kɔ.nys/ |
connût /kɔ.ny/ |
connussions /kɔ.ny.sjɔ̃/ |
connussiez /kɔ.ny.sje/ |
connussent /kɔ.nys/ | |
| compound tenses |
past | Use the present subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect1 | Use the imperfect subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nous | vous | – | |
| — | connais /kɔ.nɛ/ |
— | connaissons /kɔ.nɛ.sɔ̃/ |
connaissez /kɔ.nɛ.se/ |
— | ||
| 1literary tenses | |||||||
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)
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | se connaître | s'être connu | |||||
| gerund | en se connaissant | en s'étant connu | |||||
| present participle | se connaissant /sə‿.kɔ.nɛ.sɑ̃/ | ||||||
| past participle | connu /kɔ.ny/ | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il | nous | vous | ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | me connais /mə‿.kɔ.nɛ/ |
te connais /tə‿.kɔ.nɛ/ |
se connaît /sə‿.kɔ.nɛ/ |
nous connaissons /nu‿.kɔ.nɛ.sɔ̃/ |
vous connaissez /vu‿.kɔ.nɛ.se/ |
se connaissent /sə‿.kɔ.nɛs/ |
| imperfect | me connaissais /mə‿.kɔ.nɛ.sɛ/ |
te connaissais /tə‿.kɔ.nɛ.sɛ/ |
se connaissait /sə‿.kɔ.nɛ.sɛ/ |
nous connaissions /nu‿.kɔ.nɛ.sjɔ̃/ |
vous connaissiez /vu‿.kɔ.nɛ.sje/ |
se connaissaient /sə‿.kɔ.nɛ.sɛ/ | |
| past historic1 | 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/ |
te connaîtras /tə‿.kɔ.nɛ.tʁa/ |
se connaîtra /sə‿.kɔ.nɛ.tʁa/ |
nous connaîtrons /nu‿.kɔ.nɛ.tʁɔ̃/ |
vous connaîtrez /vu‿.kɔ.nɛ.tʁe/ |
se connaîtront /sə‿.kɔ.nɛ.tʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | me connaîtrais /mə‿.kɔ.nɛ.tʁɛ/ |
te connaîtrais /tə‿.kɔ.nɛ.tʁɛ/ |
se connaîtrait /sə‿.kɔ.nɛ.tʁɛ/ |
nous connaîtrions /nu‿.kɔ.nɛ.tʁi.jɔ̃/ |
vous connaîtriez /vu‿.kɔ.nɛ.tʁi.je/ |
se connaîtraient /sə‿.kɔ.nɛ.tʁɛ/ | |
| compound tenses |
present perfect | Use the present tense of s'être followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of s'être followed by the past participle | ||||||
| past anterior1 | Use the past historic tense of s'être followed by the past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | Use the future tense of s'être followed by the past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of s'être followed by the past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il | que nous | que vous | qu’ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | me connaisse /mə‿.kɔ.nɛs/ |
te connaisses /tə‿.kɔ.nɛs/ |
se connaisse /sə‿.kɔ.nɛs/ |
nous connaissions /nu‿.kɔ.nɛ.sjɔ̃/ |
vous connaissiez /vu‿.kɔ.nɛ.sje/ |
se connaissent /sə‿.kɔ.nɛs/ |
| imperfect1 | 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 | Use the present subjunctive tense of s'être followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect1 | Use the imperfect subjunctive tense of s'être followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nous | vous | – | |
| — | connais-toi /kɔ.nɛ.‿twa/ |
— | connaissons-nous /kɔ.nɛ.sɔ̃.‿nu/ |
connaissez-vous /kɔ.nɛ.se.‿vu/ |
— | ||
| 1literary tenses | |||||||
Derived terms
Further reading
- “connaître” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Anagrams
Norman
Alternative forms
- counaîte (France, Guernsey)
Etymology
From Latin conoistre, from Latin cognōscere, present active infinitive of cognōscō (probably through a Vulgar Latin *connōscere).
Verb
connaître
Derived terms
- connaître de vue (“to know by sight”)
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