savoir
French
Alternative forms
- sçavoir (obsolete)
Etymology
From Old French savoir, saveir, from Vulgar Latin *sapēre, from Latin sapĕre (“to taste”) (and "to know" in Late Latin, by influence of the adjective sapiēns (“wise”)), present active infinitive of sapiō. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁p- (“to try, to research”). The verb was for a long time spelled sçavoir from Middle French until the 18th century, by false regression to Classical Latin scīre "to know".
The forms of the verb with -ch- are a regular reflex of Latin -pi- (/-pj-/). Compare seiche, approcher, hache.
See cognates in regional languages in France : Angevin sçavouèr, Bourbonnais-Berrichon savoér, Bourguignon saivoi, Champenois saouâr, Franc-Comtois saivoi, Gallo savair, Lorrain sahoir, Norman saveî, Picard savoèr, Poitevin-Saintongeais saver, Tourangeau sçaveirĕ, Franco-Provençal savêr, Occitan saupre or saber, Catalan saber, Corsican sapè.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sa.vwaʁ/
audio (file) - Rhymes: -waʁ
Verb
savoir
- to know (something)
- Savais-tu qu'il parle si bien l'anglais?
- Did you know that he speaks English so well?
- Comment savait-il que j'étais là?
- How did he know that I was there?
- Il est difficile de savoir si elle ment.
- It's difficult to know if she's lying.
- Il tire cette approche en inventant une situation initiale, dans laquelle on interrogerait les individus sur la forme qu'ils voudraient d'une société sans qu'ils sachent quelle place ils y auraient.
- He derives this approach by inventing an initial situation, in which individuals would be questioned about the form they would like from a society without them knowing what place they would have in it.
- Difficile à savoir (expression; compare Difficile à dire, voir, faire)
- to know how (to do something)
- Savez-vous nager?
- Do you know how to swim?
- to be able to, to be apt to (especially in the negative conditional)
- 2021, Zaz, Tout là-haut
- Si on s'en allait tout là-haut pour mieux s'imprégner des couleurs, saurions-nous faire taire notre égo ?
- If we went up there to better soak up the colours, would we be able to silence our ego?
- Il ne saurait tarder que...
- It cannot/will not be long before...
- «Il ne saurait être considéré comme un acte de résistance puisque le Hamas a cessé la résistance dans la bande de Gaza», a poursuivi M. Abbas.
- "It cannot be considered an act of resistance, as Hamas has ceased the resistance in the Gaza strip", continued Mr. Abbas.
- (Le Devoir, 3 September 2010)
- 2021, Zaz, Tout là-haut
- to find out
- Nous devons savoir pourquoi il a fait ça.
- We have to find out why he did this.
Usage notes
- To translate "know" in the sense "to be acquainted with", the verb connaître is used.
Conjugation
Conjugation of savoir (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | savoir | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | sachant /sa.ʃɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | su /sy/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | sais /sɛ/ | sais /sɛ/ | sait /sɛ/ | savons /sa.vɔ̃/ | savez /sa.ve/ | savent /sav/ |
| imperfect | savais /sa.vɛ/ | savais /sa.vɛ/ | savait /sa.vɛ/ | savions /sa.vjɔ̃/ | saviez /sa.vje/ | savaient /sa.vɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | sus /sy/ | sus /sy/ | sut /sy/ | sûmes /sym/ | sûtes /syt/ | surent /syʁ/ | |
| future | saurai or saurai /sɔ.ʁe/ or /so.ʁe/ | sauras or sauras /sɔ.ʁa/ or /so.ʁa/ | saura or saura /sɔ.ʁa/ or /so.ʁa/ | saurons or saurons /sɔ.ʁɔ̃/ or /so.ʁɔ̃/ | saurez or saurez /sɔ.ʁe/ or /so.ʁe/ | sauront or sauront /sɔ.ʁɔ̃/ or /so.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | saurais or saurais /sɔ.ʁɛ/ or /so.ʁɛ/ | saurais or saurais /sɔ.ʁɛ/ or /so.ʁɛ/ | saurait or saurait /sɔ.ʁɛ/ or /so.ʁɛ/ | saurions or saurions /sɔ.ʁjɔ̃/ or /so.ʁjɔ̃/ | sauriez or sauriez /sɔ.ʁje/ or /so.ʁje/ | sauraient or sauraient /sɔ.ʁɛ/ or /so.ʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) | present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | sache /saʃ/ | saches /saʃ/ | sache /saʃ/ | sachions /sa.ʃjɔ̃/ | sachiez /sa.ʃje/ | sachent /saʃ/ |
| imperfect2 | susse /sys/ | susses /sys/ | sût /sy/ | sussions /sy.sjɔ̃/ | sussiez /sy.sje/ | sussent /sys/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | sache /saʃ/ | — | sachons /sa.ʃɔ̃/ | sachez /sa.ʃe/ | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Synonyms
- (to know): connaître, connaitre
- (to know how to): pouvoir
Derived terms
- à ce que je sache
- allez savoir
- à ne savoir qu'en faire
- à savoir
- au vu et au su de
- faire savoir
- je ne sais pas
- je ne sais quoi
- ne pas être sans savoir
- ne pas savoir à quel saint se vouer
- ne pas savoir sur quel pied danser
- ne plus savoir où donner de la tête
- on ne sait jamais
- on ne saurait faire boire un âne qui n'a pas soif
- pour autant que je sache
- que je sache
- qui sait
- sait-on jamais
- savant
- savoir-faire
- savoir gré
- savoir-vivre
- savoir y faire
- tout vient à point à qui sait attendre
- va savoir
- va savoir pourquoi
- vous savez
Descendants
- Saint Dominican Creole French: savé
Noun
savoir m (plural savoirs)
- knowledge
Further reading
- “savoir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
- avoirs
Old French
Alternative forms
- saveir (early Old French or Anglo-Norman)
- savier (La Vie de Saint Léger, circa 980)
Etymology
From Vulgar Latin *sapēre, from Latin sapere, present active infinitive of sapiō (“I taste”), later "I know".
Verb
savoir
- to know
- circa 1180,, Chrétien de Troyes, Lancelot ou le Chevalier de la charrette:
- Mes qui l’apele il ne le sot :
Fantosme cuide que ce soit.- But he did not know who was calling him
He thought that it was a ghost
- But he did not know who was calling him
- circa 1155, Wace, Le Roman de Brut:
- Et mult sot de chiens et d'oisiax
- And he knew much about dogs and about birds
-
- to be skilled in
- molt bien savoit le latin
- he was very skilled in Latin
Conjugation
This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has a stressed present stem sev distinct from the unstressed stem sav, as well as other irregularities. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.
Conjugation of savoir (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | savoir | avoir seü | |||||
| gerund | en savant, sachant | Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| present participle | savant, sachant | ||||||
| past participle | seü | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | jo | tu | il | nos | vos | il | |
| simple tenses | present | sai | ses | set | savons | savez | sevent |
| imperfect | savoie, saveie | savoies, saveies | savoit, saveit | saviiens, saviens | saviiez, saviez | savoient, saveient | |
| preterite | soi | seüs | sot | seümes | seüstes | sorent | |
| future | savrai, sarai | savras, saras | savra, sara | savrons, sarons | savroiz, savreiz, savrez, saroiz, sareiz, sarez | savront, saront | |
| conditional | savroie, savreie, saroie, sareie | savroies, savreies, saroies, sareies | savroit, savreit, saroit, sareit | savriiens, savriens, sariiens, sariens | savriiez, savriez, sariiez, sariez | savroient, savreient, saroient, sareient | |
| 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 anterior | Use the preterite 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 jo | que tu | qu’il | que nos | que vos | qu’il | |
| simple tenses | present | sache | saches | sache | sachiens, sachons | sachiez | sachent |
| imperfect | seüsse | seüsses | seüst | seüssons, seüssiens | seüssoiz, seüssez, seüssiez | seüssent | |
| compound tenses | past | Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nos | vos | – | |
| — | sache | — | sachiens, sachons | sachiez | — | ||
Noun
savoir m (oblique plural savoirs, nominative singular savoirs, nominative plural savoir)
- knowledge
- wisdom
Descendants
- Middle French: sçavoir
- French: savoir
- Walloon: saveur