conocer
transitive verb
1 [+persona] (saber quién es) to know (reconocer) to recognize; know
conozco a todos sus hermanos I know all his brothers and sisters
¿de qué lo conoces? where do you know him from?; la conozco de haber trabajado juntos I know her from having worked with her; ¿conoces a Pedro? have you met Pedro?; do you know Pedro?
no me conoce de nada he doesn't know me from Adam
la conozco de oídas I've heard of her; I know of her
lo conozco de vista I know him by sight
(ver por primera vez) to meet la conocí en Sevilla I met her in Seville
(saber cómo es) to get to know cuando la conozcas mejor when you get to know her better; la única forma de conocerlo es vivir con él the only way to get to know him is to live with him
la conozco como la palma de la mano I know her like the back of my hand
la conozco como si la hubiera parido I know her inside out; I can read her like a book
te he conocido por el modo de andar I recognized o knew you from the way you walk
2 (tener conocimiento de) [+método, resultado] to know; [+noticia] to hear
conozco un camino más corto I know a shorter way; ella conoce una forma más fácil de hacerlo she knows an easier way to do it
el enfermo debe conocer la verdad the patient must be told o must know the truth
conozco las dificultades I know (about) the difficulties; no conocía tus dotes de pintor I didn't know what a good painter you were; conocía la existencia de los documentos she knew of the documents' existence; queremos conocer de cerca la situación we want to get to know the situation at first hand; investigaciones destinadas a conocer la verdad investigations aimed at establishing the truth
más vale lo malo conocido que lo bueno por conocer better the devil you know than the devil you don't
3 [+país, ciudad]
me encantaría conocer China I would love to go to China; no conozco Buenos Aires I've never been to Buenos Aires; I don't know Buenos Aires; quiero conocer mundo I want to see the world
4 (dominar) to know
conoce su oficio he knows his job; no conozco mucho el tema I don't know much about the subject
conoce cuatro idiomas she speaks o knows four languages
5 (experimentar)
ha conocido dos guerras mundiales she has lived through two world wars; los muchos terremotos que ha conocido Italia the many earthquakes there have been in Italy; todavía no ha conocido el amor he's never known love
6 (distinguir) to know; tell
conoce cuáles son buenos y cuáles malos he knows o can tell which are good and which are bad
por tu cara se te conoce que estás sano you can tell from your face that you are healthy
7
dar a conocer [+información] to announce; [+declaración, informe, cifras] to release
dio a conocer sus intenciones she announced her intentions; she made her intentions known; dieron a conocer el ganador del premio a través de la radio the prize was announced on the radio; no dieron a conocer su paradero por motivos de seguridad they didn't reveal where they were staying for security reasons; los hechos se dieron a conocer en enero the facts came to light in January
darse a conocer [+persona] to become known; make a name for o.s.
se dio a conocer en una película de Almodóvar he made his name in an Almodóvar film; darse a conocer a algn to make o.s. known to sb
intransitive verb
pronominal verb
conocerse2 (uso recíproco) (tener relación con) to know each other; know one another
¿os conocéis? have you met?; do you know each other?; ya nos conocemos, no hace falta que nos presentes we've already met, there's no need to introduce us
(por primera vez) to meet ¿dónde os conocisteis? where did you (first) meet?; se conocieron en un baile they met at a dance
(familiarizarse) to get to know each other; get to know one another Juan y yo nunca llegamos a conocernos bien Juan and I never really got to know each other
3 (reconocerse) [+uno mismo] to recognize o.s.; [+dos personas] to recognize each other
no me conocía en la foto I didn't recognize myself in the photo; se miraron pero no se conocieron they looked at each other but didn't recognize each other
5 (uso impersonal)
se conocen varios casos several cases are known; se conocen con el nombre de composites they are known as composites
a esta enfermedad no se le conoce cura this illness has no known cure
no se le conoce ninguna novia he doesn't have a girlfriend as far as anyone knows
se conoce que ... apparently ...; it seems that ...; se conoce que se lo han contado apparently he's been told about it; it seems that he's been told about it; se conoce que no le ha sentado bien he's obviously not best pleased
Conocer, aplicado a personas o cosas, se traduce generalmente por know:
No conozco muy bien a su familia I don't know his family very well
Nos conocemos desde que éramos pequeños We have known each other since we were little
Conoce Manchester como la palma de la mano He knows Manchester like the back of his hand
Sin embargo, cuando queremos indicar que se trata del primer encuentro, se debe utilizar meet:
La conocí en una fiesta I (first) met her at a party
¿Conoces a Carmen? Ven que te la presento Have you met Carmen? Come and I'll introduce you
