conocer

"To know" in the sense of being familiar with a person, place, or thing — conozco a Marta, conozco ese libro (note the personal a before a specific person). Never followed directly by an infinitive or a full clause; that's saber's job.

• Conozco bien esta ciudad. — I know this city well.
• ¿Conoces a mi hermano? — Do you know my brother?
• Conocemos ese restaurante. — We know that restaurant.

The reverse of saber's mistake: using conocer before an infinitive. "I know how to cook" is sé cocinar, not *conozco cocinar* — conocer always takes a direct-object noun (often a person, with the personal a), never an action.

Often confused with saber.

• quote "Conócete a ti mismo" — The Spanish rendering of the Delphic maxim inscribed on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi (Greek "gnōthi seauton") — Plato has Socrates invoke it in dialogues like the First Alcibiades, and it's traditionally counted among the maxims of the Seven Sages of Greece.