conocer
to know
To know a person or place through personal experience
Encoding Strategies:
linguistic
cognizant
aware / in the know
+
-er
verb suffix
Conocer means to know and sounds like the English word cognizant0 (aware, in the know0) turned into a verb1. When you're cognizant of something, you recognize it — you've experienced it personally. That's the most useful way to think about conocer: knowing through familiarity and experience, not knowing a fact.
conocer
to know, to be familiar with
To know a person or place through personal experience and familiarity.
Conozco a tu amigo del colegioI know your friend from school
¿Conoces Madrid?Do you know Madrid? / Have you been to Madrid?
to meet (first encounter)
When you first become acquainted with someone, you are "knowing" them for the first time.
¿Dónde conociste a tu novio?Where did you meet your boyfriend?
to know, to feel (to experience)
Just as you can be familiar with a person or place, you can be familiar with a feeling.
Estos guerreros no conocen el miedoThese warriors feel no fear
conocerse
to know each other, to meet
When two people "know" each other, or first become acquainted.
Se conocieron en un curso de inglésThey met in an English class
Se conocen del colegioThey know each other from school
to know oneself (self-awareness)
To be cognitively aware of yourself — to truly "know" who you are.
Me conozco mejor que nadieI know myself better than anyone