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- "Je connais une femme."
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Savoir is know as in understanding something and connaître is to know (be acquainted with) a person.
Am I wrong thinking that there is a liaison missing between "connais" and "une"?
Only two: "savoir" and "connaître".
But in English, on top of "know", you get "to be aware of", "to be familiar with"...
savoir = know something you have learned and "know how to"= je sais qu'il s'est marié; je sais nager; je sais ma leçon
connaître = to be familiar with (people and places) = je connais ce musée / cette personne
Je sais une femme is wrong. As explained in the other comments: you use connaitre for knowing persons.
It didn't accept "i know of a woman". I assumef that was the sam as i know a woman
What is the context of this sentence? Is this used when someone says "I need to find a house" and then you say "Je connais une femme." to say that you know someone who can help them find a house. Or is this used in a more intimate relationship to say that have a girlfriend or wife?
Actually, this sentence is a bit short for any relevant context can be determined for sure.
However, this is how you can use it: "je connais une femme qui enseigne le français" = "I know a women who teaches French"
I thought that when you are trying to say "I know" it would be "Je sais" not "Je connais".
Can this be translated to "I know a wife" - or can that translation for "femme" be used only when placed after a possessive term? ("Sa femme, ma femme, ta femme")
The latter.
If you mean "wife" but there is no context to change "femme/woman" to "femme/wife", you may use "une épouse".
I know a wife = je connais une épouse
No, because there is no evidence in this sentence that this woman is married.
"femme" translates to "wife" with such elements of context as: "ma femme", or "le mari et la femme".
It's been always my question, but I always forgot to ask about it. Is there a typo in connaît? Why connais is written with i while connaît is written with î? Exception? Or a rule?
You may remember that most circumflex accents actually replace the letter -s- which was part of the word's spelling in old French.
Therefore, the old French for "il connaît" was "il connaist". The S disappeared and was replaced by a circumflex accent.
For all other conjugation forms, the S is still there: je/tu connais, nous connaissons, vous connaissez, ils/elles connaissent
As here says:
In French, two irregular verbs express “to know”: connaître and savoir. Connaître means “to know” in the sense of being acquainted with someone or something. Use the verb connaître when you can substitute the words “to be familiar with”: Je connais Luc.
Also for more information you can visit here.
I had "I know a lady" declined, even though this would be a more polite phrase in British English
You are expected to translate the French you get into standard English.
By the way, the French can be polite too, and would say "Je connais une dame".
Use "connaître" with places and people, plus anything you are "familiar with" or "knowledgeable about".
In addition, "connaître" cannot be followed by a subordinate clause introduced by "que":
- Je connais Paris, les petits restaurants sympas, le professeur d'anglais, les plantes vertes...
- Je sais ma leçon, je sais qui vient chez moi, je sais ce que tu penses...
- Je sais que c'est parfois difficile
