Conocer y Reconocer (to know and to recognize)

Hello! And welcome to Your Daily Pinch of Spanish :)

Today I want to share a follow up lesson to my previous one, 'Saber' and 'Entender', and show you the words 'Concoer' and 'Reconocer'. These words are quite similar in meaning to 'saber' and 'entender'.

Conocer (koh-noh-sehr) - To know; to meet

Use conocer when you know a person. Or when you've come to know something and so you understand what and/or how it is.

Yo lo conozco a él - I know him

Quiero conocerla - I want to get to know her

(Yo) conozco bien este lugar - I know this place well

(Yo) conozco este tema bastante bien - I know this topic quite well

*I wrote yo in parenthesis because using the verb form conozco already points out that you're talking about yourself.

Reconocer (Reh-koh-noh-sehr) - To recognize; to understand

It's just like the English 'recognize'. It's used when you've seen someone or something before.

(Yo) reconozco este lugar - I recognize this place, or, I know this place

(Yo) no reconozco este lugar - I don't recognize this place, or, I don't know this place

(Yo) reconozco esa cara - I recognize that face

But also, it has a meaning very similar to 'understand', and I've heard it used more in this sense when you understand a flaw or something that you did wrong. I'll give you some examples:

Yo reconozco que está mal - I understand that it's wrong

Yo reconozco que pude haberlo hecho diferente - I understand I could have done it differently.

I'll give you now some basic conjugations, to finish this little lesson:

Yo conozco (koh-nohs-coh) I know

Tú conoces (ko-noh-sehs) You know

Ella/Él conoce (koh-noh-seh) She/he knows

Ellos/Ellas conocen (koh-noh-sehn) They know

Yo conocí (Koh-noh-see) I met, I knew

Tú conociste (Koh-noh-sees-teh) You met, You knew

Ella/Él conoció (Koh-noh-seeoh) She/He met, She/He knew

Ellos/Ellas conocieron (koh-noh-see-eh-rohn) They met, They knew

Yo conoceré (koh-noh-seh-reh) I will know, I will meet

Tú conocerás (koh-noh-seh-rahs) You will know, you will meet

Ella/Él conocerá (koh-noh-seh-rah) She/He will know, she/he will meet

Ellos/Ellas conocerán (koh-noh-seh-rahn) They will know, they will meet

Yo reconozco (reh-coh-nohs-koh) I recognize, I understand

Tú reconoces (reh-coh-noh-sehs) You recognize, You understand

Ella/Él reconoce (reh-coh-noh-seh) She/he recognizes, she/he understand

Ellos/Ellas reconocen (reh-coh-noh-sehn) They Recognize, They understand

Yo reconocí (reh-coh-noh-see) I recognized, I understood

Tú reconociste (reh-coh-noh-sees-teh) You recognized, you understood

Ella/Él reconoció (reh-coh-noh-seeoh) She/he recognized, understood

Ellos/Ellas reconocieron (reh-coh-noh-see-eh-rohn) They recognized, they understood

Yo reconoceré (reh-coh-noh-seh-reh) I will recognize, I will understand

Tú reconocerás (reh-coh-noh-seh-rahs) You will recognize, You will understand

Ella/Él reconocerá (reh-coh-noh-seh-rah) She/he will recognize, she/he will understand

Ellos/Ellas reconocerán (reh-coh-noh-seh-rahn) They will recognize, they will understand

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This is it for today. I hope you learned something with me today, and that you understand and find this lesson useful :)

Thank you for reading, Until next time!