Saber conjugation: main tenses of "to know" in Spanish
Saber means "to know". Irregular -er verb (yo sé, preterite sup-). Present tense: sé, sabes, sabe, sabemos, sabéis, saben. Preterite: supe, supiste, supo… The past participle is sabido and the gerund is sabiendo.
Infinitive
saber
Pronunciation
sah-BEHR
IPA
/saˈbeɾ/
Meaning
to know
Type
Irregular -er verb (yo sé, preterite sup-)
Gerund
sabiendo
Past participle
sabido
Pronunciation is spelled out in English, one syllable at a time, with the stressed syllable in capitals. Highlighted forms differ from the regular pattern. Tap any form to hear it.
Saber in the indicative
PresentePresent
what happens now or usually
yo
sé (irregular)
tú
sabes
él / ella / usted
sabe
nosotros
sabemos
vosotros
sabéis
ellos / ellas / ustedes
saben
Pretérito indefinidoPreterite
a finished action in the past
yo
supe (irregular)
tú
supiste (irregular)
él / ella / usted
supo (irregular)
nosotros
supimos (irregular)
vosotros
supisteis (irregular)
ellos / ellas / ustedes
supieron (irregular)
Pretérito imperfectoImperfect
an ongoing or repeated action in the past
yo
sabía
tú
sabías
él / ella / usted
sabía
nosotros
sabíamos
vosotros
sabíais
ellos / ellas / ustedes
sabían
Futuro simpleFuture
what will happen
yo
sabré (irregular)
tú
sabrás (irregular)
él / ella / usted
sabrá (irregular)
nosotros
sabremos (irregular)
vosotros
sabréis (irregular)
ellos / ellas / ustedes
sabrán (irregular)
Condicional simpleConditional
what would happen
yo
sabría (irregular)
tú
sabrías (irregular)
él / ella / usted
sabría (irregular)
nosotros
sabríamos (irregular)
vosotros
sabríais (irregular)
ellos / ellas / ustedes
sabrían (irregular)
Pretérito perfectoPresent perfect
haber + past participle: what has happened
yo
he sabido
tú
has sabido
él / ella / usted
ha sabido
nosotros
hemos sabido
vosotros
habéis sabido
ellos / ellas / ustedes
han sabido
Compound tenses of saber
The helper verb is conjugated while saber stays in one form: the participle sabido, the gerund sabiendo or the infinitive.
Pretérito pluscuamperfecto Past perfect
había sabido, habías sabido, había sabido, habíamos sabido, habíais sabido, habían sabido
voy a saber, vas a saber, va a saber, vamos a saber, vais a saber, van a saber
Saber in the subjunctive
Presente de subjuntivoPresent subjunctive
after quiero que, espero que, cuando
yo
sepa (irregular)
tú
sepas (irregular)
él / ella / usted
sepa (irregular)
nosotros
sepamos (irregular)
vosotros
sepáis (irregular)
ellos / ellas / ustedes
sepan (irregular)
Imperfecto de subjuntivoImperfect subjunctive
after si and quería que
yo
supiera (irregular)
tú
supieras (irregular)
él / ella / usted
supiera (irregular)
nosotros
supiéramos (irregular)
vosotros
supierais (irregular)
ellos / ellas / ustedes
supieran (irregular)
The imperfect subjunctive has a second, equally correct set of forms in -se; swap -ra for -se: supiera → supiese.
Saber in the imperative
Imperativoaffirmative
telling someone to do it
tú
sabe
usted
sepa
nosotros
sepamos
vosotros
sabed
ustedes
sepan
Imperativo negativonegative
telling someone not to: no + the subjunctive
tú
no sepas
usted
no sepa
nosotros
no sepamos
vosotros
no sepáis
ustedes
no sepan
What is irregular about saber
The yo form of the present is sé, written with an accent to tell it apart from the pronoun se; the rest of the present is regular (sabes, sabe). The preterite uses the stem sup- with unaccented endings: supe, supiste, supo. The future and conditional drop the e of the infinitive: sabré, sabría. The present subjunctive has its own stem sep-: sepa, sepas, sepa.
Do not confuse: one form, two verbs
sé — also ser: sé here is yo, present; for ser it is tú, imperative.
Common mistakes with saber
Yo sabo.→Yo sé.
The yo form is sé; every other person of the present is regular: sabes, sabe, sabemos.
Sé a María. / Sé Madrid.→Conozco a María. / Conozco Madrid.
Being acquainted with a person or a place is conocer. Saber is for facts and skills.
saberé, sabería→sabré, sabría
The future and conditional drop the e of the infinitive: sabré, sabrás, sabrá.
When to use saber
Saber is to know a fact or to know how to do something; the skill goes straight after it, with no word for "how": Sé nadar. In the preterite it usually means "found out": Ayer supe la noticia. Saber a is "to taste of": Sabe a limón.
Saber in sentences
No sé dónde están mis llaves. I don't know where my keys are.
¿Sabes nadar? Can you swim?
Lo supe por mi hermana. I found out from my sister.
No sabía que estabas aquí. I didn't know you were here.
Pronto sabremos el resultado. We'll know the result soon.
How to remember saber
saber[sah-BEHR] sounds like the English “saber”. Picture this:
The fencer knows every move: his saber writes the answers in the air before you ask.
A sound-alike plus a vivid scene is the keyword method: the sound pulls the meaning along. How it works.
Practice the saber conjugation
Practice saber
Six quick questions on this verb: pick the right form. Nothing to sign up for, nothing is saved.
FAQ
Is saber a regular or irregular verb?
Irregular -er verb (yo sé, preterite sup-). In the tables on this page, 34 forms differ from the regular pattern; they are highlighted.
Tables: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and UniMorph, CC BY-SA 3.0, cross-checked on September 30, 2026. Notes on mistakes and the examples were written with the help of our model (AI); every form in the examples is matched against the chart, and the text was proofread separately. How we make it.