Conocer Conjugation | How to Conjugate Conocer in Spanish

Conocer means “to know” or “to be acquainted with.” You will learn conozco, the conozc- present-subjunctive family, and the otherwise regular -ER pattern used for familiarity with people, places, and things.

Conocer conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Irregular. Linguistically, conocer is an -ER verb whose main irregularity is the zc sequence in conozco — “I know” — and in the present-subjunctive family built on conozc-. Its preterite, imperfect, future, conditional, gerund, and participle otherwise follow regular patterns.

Conocer gerund, past participle, and infinitive

The infinitive names the verb, the gerund is used in progressive constructions, and the past participle combines with haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — in compound forms. In compound tenses with haber, the participle remains invariant.

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	conocer	to know; to be acquainted with
Gerund	conociendo	getting to know
Past participle	conocido	known

Conocer meaning and essential uses

Conocer — “to know / to be acquainted with” — is used for familiarity or contact with a person, place, or thing: Conozco bien la ciudad. — “I know the city well.”

In a completed past event, the preterite can naturally describe first meeting or becoming acquainted with someone: Conocí a Marta ayer. — “I met Marta yesterday.” The person introduced as a direct object normally takes personal a — the preposition used before specific people — as in that example.

Conocer irregular conjugation patterns

Conocer has a localized zc irregularity. The first-person present is conozco — “I know,” and the present subjunctive uses conozc- throughout: conozca — “that I know,” conozcas — “that you know,” and the corresponding plural forms. The preterite conocí — “I knew / got to know,” imperfect conocía — “I knew / was familiar with,” future conoceré — “I will know,” and conditional conocería — “I would know” otherwise follow regular -ER formation.

Conocer indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Conocer present tense conjugation

Present indicative (el presente de indicativo) — Use it for current actions, habits, scheduled events, and general statements. The yo form is conozco — “I know”; the remaining present-indicative rows follow the standard -ER pattern.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	conozco	I know
Tú — you, singular informal	conoces	you know
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	conoce	he / she knows; you know (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	conocemos	we know
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	conocéis	you know (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	conocen	they know; you know (plural)

• Conozco a muchas personas aquí. — I know many people here.

Conocer preterite conjugation

Preterite (el pretérito perfecto simple / pretérito indefinido) — Use it for completed or bounded past events. Conocer uses the regular -ER preterite in this system.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	conocí	I knew / got to know
Tú — you, singular informal	conociste	you knew / got to know
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	conoció	he / she knew / got to know; you knew / got to know (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	conocimos	we knew / got to know
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	conocisteis	you knew / got to know (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	conocieron	they knew / got to know; you knew / got to know (plural)

• Conocí a Elena en 2024. — I met Elena in 2024.

Conocer imperfect conjugation

Imperfect (el pretérito imperfecto) — Use it for past habits, background descriptions, or actions viewed as ongoing. Conocer uses the regular -ER imperfect pattern in this system.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	conocía	I knew / was familiar with
Tú — you, singular informal	conocías	you knew / were familiar with
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	conocía	he / she knew / was familiar with; you knew / were familiar with (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	conocíamos	we knew / were familiar with
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	conocíais	you knew / were familiar with (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	conocían	they knew / were familiar with; you knew / were familiar with (plural)

• Cuando vivía allí, conocía bien el barrio. — When I lived there, I knew the neighborhood well.

Conocer present progressive

Present progressive — This verbal periphrasis presents the action as genuinely in progress. Form it with a present form of estar — “to be” — plus conociendo — “getting to know.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	estoy conociendo	I am getting to know
Tú — you, singular informal	estás conociendo	you are getting to know
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	está conociendo	he / she is getting to know; you are getting to know (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	estamos conociendo	we are getting to know
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	estáis conociendo	you are getting to know (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	están conociendo	they are getting to know; you are getting to know (plural)

• Estoy conociendo mejor la ciudad. — I am getting to know the city better.

Conocer near future conjugation

Near future — This verbal periphrasis expresses plans or expected future events. Form it with a present form of ir — “to go” — followed by a and conocer — “to know; to be acquainted with.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	voy a conocer	I am going to get to know
Tú — you, singular informal	vas a conocer	you are going to get to know
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	va a conocer	he / she is going to get to know; you are going to get to know (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	vamos a conocer	we are going to get to know
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	vais a conocer	you are going to get to know (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	van a conocer	they are going to get to know; you are going to get to know (plural)

• Voy a conocer al nuevo equipo mañana. — I am going to meet the new team tomorrow.

Conocer future tense conjugation

Simple future (el futuro simple) — Use it for future reference and, in suitable contexts, probability. The endings attach to the full infinitive conocer — “to know; to be acquainted with”; the target verb uses its full infinitive as the future stem.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	conoceré	I will know
Tú — you, singular informal	conocerás	you will know
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	conocerá	he / she will know; you will know (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	conoceremos	we will know
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	conoceréis	you will know (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	conocerán	they will know; you will know (plural)

• Conocerás mejor el lugar después de unas semanas. — You will know the place better after a few weeks.

Conocer conditional conjugation

Simple conditional (el condicional simple) — Use it for hypothetical outcomes, polite softening, and other conditional meanings. The endings attach to the full infinitive conocer — “to know; to be acquainted with.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	conocería	I would know
Tú — you, singular informal	conocerías	you would know
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	conocería	he / she would know; you would know (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	conoceríamos	we would know
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	conoceríais	you would know (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	conocerían	they would know; you would know (plural)

• Conocería mejor la región si viviera allí. — I would know the region better if I lived there.

Conocer present perfect conjugation

Present perfect (el pretérito perfecto compuesto) — Use it for completed events connected to the present; regional distribution varies. Form it with present forms of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle. Here the target participle is conocido — “known.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	he conocido	I have known
Tú — you, singular informal	has conocido	you have known
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	ha conocido	he / she has known; you have known (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hemos conocido	we have known
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habéis conocido	you have known (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	han conocido	they have known; you have known (plural)

• Ya he conocido a sus padres. — I have already met his parents.

Conocer past perfect conjugation

Past perfect / pluperfect (el pretérito pluscuamperfecto) — Use it for an event completed before another past reference point. Form it with imperfect forms of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle. Here the target participle is conocido — “known.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	había conocido	I had known
Tú — you, singular informal	habías conocido	you had known
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	había conocido	he / she had known; you had known (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habíamos conocido	we had known
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habíais conocido	you had known (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habían conocido	they had known; you had known (plural)

• Ya habíamos conocido el lugar antes del viaje. — We had already become familiar with the place before the trip.

Conocer future perfect conjugation

Future perfect (el futuro perfecto) — Use it for something expected to be completed by a future reference point. Form it with future forms of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle. Here the target participle is conocido — “known.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habré conocido	I will have known
Tú — you, singular informal	habrás conocido	you will have known
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habrá conocido	he / she will have known; you will have known (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habremos conocido	we will have known
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habréis conocido	you will have known (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrán conocido	they will have known; you will have known (plural)

• Para entonces habremos conocido a todo el equipo. — By then we will have met the whole team.

Conocer conditional perfect conjugation

Conditional perfect (el condicional compuesto) — Use it for hypothetical completed results or unreal past outcomes. Form it with conditional forms of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle. Here the target participle is conocido — “known.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habría conocido	I would have known
Tú — you, singular informal	habrías conocido	you would have known
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habría conocido	he / she would have known; you would have known (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habríamos conocido	we would have known
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habríais conocido	you would have known (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrían conocido	they would have known; you would have known (plural)

• Habría conocido mejor la ciudad si hubiera tenido más tiempo. — I would have known the city better if I had had more time.

Conocer subjunctive conjugations

Conocer present subjunctive conjugation

Present subjunctive (el presente de subjuntivo) — Use it in subordinate environments involving wishes, influence, emotion, doubt, evaluation, necessity, possibility, or non-specific reference. The present subjunctive uses the stem conozc- throughout.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	conozca	that I know
Tú — you, singular informal	conozcas	that you know
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	conozca	that he / she know; that you know (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	conozcamos	that we know
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	conozcáis	that you know (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	conozcan	that they know; that you know (plural)

• Quiero que conozcas a mis compañeros. — I want you to meet my colleagues.

Conocer imperfect subjunctive conjugation

Imperfect subjunctive (el imperfecto de subjuntivo) — Use it in subordinate clauses linked to past, hypothetical, or unreal contexts. The main table uses the accepted -ra series. The -se series is also accepted in many contexts, and the second example below demonstrates it without implying mechanical interchangeability in every construction.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	conociera	that I knew / got to know / were to know
Tú — you, singular informal	conocieras	that you knew / got to know / were to know
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	conociera	that he / she knew / got to know / were to know; that you knew / got to know / were to know (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	conociéramos	that we knew / got to know / were to know
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	conocierais	that you knew / got to know / were to know (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	conocieran	that they knew / got to know / were to know; that you knew / got to know / were to know (plural)

• Esperaban que conociéramos mejor la zona. — They hoped we would know the area better.
• Prefería que conocieseis al equipo antes de la reunión. — She preferred that you all meet the team before the meeting.

Conocer future subjunctive conjugation

Future subjunctive (el futuro de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. It survives mainly in formal, legal, proverbial, literary, or historical contexts and is presented here as a reference system.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	conociere	if / when I should know
Tú — you, singular informal	conocieres	if / when you should know
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	conociere	if / when he / she should know; if / when you should know (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	conociéremos	if / when we should know
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	conociereis	if / when you should know (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	conocieren	if / when they should know; if / when you should know (plural)

• Quien conociere información reservada deberá mantenerla confidencial. — Whoever should know confidential information must keep it confidential.

Conocer present perfect subjunctive conjugation

Present perfect subjunctive (el pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo) — Use it when a completed event appears inside a present- or future-oriented subjunctive environment. Form it with present-subjunctive forms of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus conocido — “known.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	haya conocido	that I have known
Tú — you, singular informal	hayas conocido	that you have known
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	haya conocido	that he / she has known; that you have known (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hayamos conocido	that we have known
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hayáis conocido	that you have known (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hayan conocido	that they have known; that you have known (plural)

• Me alegra que hayas conocido a mi familia. — I am glad that you have met my family.

Conocer past perfect subjunctive conjugation

Past perfect subjunctive (el pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo) — Use it for earlier completed situations in unreal, counterfactual, or other subjunctive contexts. The main table uses hubiera plus conocido — “known”; hubiese is an accepted auxiliary alternative in many contexts.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiera conocido	that I had known
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieras conocido	that you had known
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiera conocido	that he / she had known; that you had known (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéramos conocido	that we had known
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubierais conocido	that you had known (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieran conocido	that they had known; that you had known (plural)

• Ojalá hubiéramos conocido ese lugar antes. — I wish we had known that place earlier.
• Si hubieses conocido al equipo antes, la reunión habría sido más fácil. — If you had met the team earlier, the meeting would have been easier.

Conocer future perfect subjunctive conjugation

Future perfect subjunctive (el futuro perfecto de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. This reference form appears mainly in formal, legal, literary, or historical contexts. Form it with future-subjunctive forms of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus conocido — “known.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiere conocido	if / when I should have known
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieres conocido	if / when you should have known
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiere conocido	if / when he / she should have known; if / when you should have known (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéremos conocido	if / when we should have known
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubiereis conocido	if / when you should have known (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieren conocido	if / when they should have known; if / when you should have known (plural)

• Si hubieren conocido los hechos con anterioridad, deberán declararlo. — If they should have known the facts beforehand, they must declare it.

Conocer imperative and commands

Commands address another person directly. Spanish uses different morphological sources across persons and polarity; the nosotros/nosotras row is a present-subjunctive form used with exhortative “let’s…” value.

Conocer affirmative commands

Use affirmative commands when the intended meaning is naturally directive, especially “get to know.” The tú form is conoce — “get to know,” while the formal and plural subjunctive-based forms use conozc-.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	conoce	get to know
Usted — you, singular formal	conozca	get to know (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	conozcamos	let’s get to know
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	conoced	get to know (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	conozcan	get to know (plural)

• Conoce a tu equipo antes del proyecto. — Get to know your team before the project.

Conocer negative commands

Negative commands use subjunctive-based forms. Accordingly, the negative command family uses conozc-: no conozcas — “do not get to know / meet,” with the corresponding formal and plural forms.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	no conozcas	do not get to know
Usted — you, singular formal	no conozca	do not get to know (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	no conozcamos	let’s not get to know
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no conozcáis	do not get to know (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no conozcan	do not get to know (plural)

• No conozcas a tus invitados por primera vez el día del evento. — Do not meet your guests for the first time on the day of the event.

Example sentences with Conocer

These examples reinforce the target verb across useful forms and contexts already explained in the lesson.

• Conozco bien este barrio. — I know this neighborhood well.
• Ayer conocí a la nueva directora. — Yesterday I met the new director.
• Antes conocíamos mejor la zona. — We used to know the area better.
• Quiero que conozcas al equipo. — I want you to meet the team.
• Ya hemos conocido a todos los participantes. — We have already met all the participants.
• Conoce a tu equipo antes de empezar el proyecto. — Get to know your team before starting the project.

Regional and usage notes for Conocer

The core tables retain tú, usted, vosotros/vosotras, and ustedes for project comparability. In voseo regions, the present indicative and affirmative command can use distinct forms; these regional forms do not replace the core tú paradigm.

• Vos conocés bien la ciudad. — You know the city well. (voseo)
• Conocé al equipo antes de empezar. — Get to know the team before starting. (affirmative vos command)

With conocer, concentrate on the localized zc family: conozco in the first-person present and conozc- throughout the present subjunctive and related commands. The remaining core tense families are largely regular.