I've met her, but I don't know her

Question

In Spanish "to know" and "to meet" are both "conocer".

As a result, how can one say "I've met her, but I don't know her" without it sounding like "I knew her but don't know her now"?

The sentences that I have in mind are as follows:

"La conocí, pero no la conozco" = "I've met her, but don't know her" (I'm thinking that this relies heavily on context)

and...

"La conocí, pero ya no la conozco" = "I knew her, but I don't know her now." or "I knew her, but I don't know her anymore".

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

Good question! =) - NikkiLR, Jan 12, 2012

Answer 1

Good one, Nick!

Sometimes this happens in languages. This would give a very confusing sentence in Spanish, so we wouldn't really phrase it that way.

How to avoid it:

Hemos quedado, pero no la conozco todavía.

Nos hemos visto alguna vez, pero aún no la conozco bien

I'm not sure if this answers your question.

I like the second one. - gringojrf, Jan 12, 2012

Cogumela, you are my angel! :-) This answers my question perfectly! Thank you so much! - NickDan, Jan 12, 2012

Answer 2

Hemos quedado, pero no la conozco todavía.

Please Cogu, I must know...... why quedar though? What does that have to do with meeting someone? I ask because I need to learn. Gracias.

Thanks Jeezzle, I had the exact same question. - gringojrf, Jan 12, 2012

Answer 3

Excellent question!!!

I like this one.

"La conocí, pero ya no la conozco" = "I knew her, but I don't know her now." or "I knew her, but I don't know her anymore". But in english "I met her, but I don't know her anymore."

Answer 4

Jeezle said...

why quedar though? What does that have to do with meeting someone?

Check Quedar in the SD dictionary (number 7) eg...

quedar (con alguien) -> to arrange to meet (somebody)

I have a feeling that it's more popular in Spain than in the Americas (obviously don't take my word for it though) For me this is the most difficult word in the language.

Yup. I've heard this used with frequency here in Mexico too. - NickDan, Jan 12, 2012