connaître

"To know" in the sense of being familiar with a person, place, or thing — je connais Marie, je connais ce livre. Never followed directly by an infinitive or a full clause; that's savoir's job. If what follows is a fact/skill, use savoir; if it's a noun (a person, place, or thing you're familiar with), use connaître.

• Je connais bien cette ville. — I know this city well.
• Tu connais mon frère ? — Do you know my brother?
• Nous connaissons ce restaurant. — We know this restaurant.

The reverse of savoir's mistake: using connaître before an infinitive or a clause. "I know how to cook" is je sais cuisiner, not *je connais cuisiner* — connaître always takes a direct object noun, not an action.

Often confused with savoir.

• quote "Connais-toi toi-même" — "Know thyself" — the maxim inscribed at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, taken up by Socrates as the starting point for all philosophical inquiry.