"The woman knows the man."

Translation: Kvinnan känner mannen.

[kounsh]

Why can it not be Kvinnan vet mannen?

[Lundgren8]

”Vet” is like to know a fact, and ”känna” is to know a person personally.

[Super-Svensk]

"Vet" is used for knowing a piece of information. "Känner" is used for knowing a person or knowing who a person is. In this case, you would use "känner."

[kounsh]

Thank you all for the kind explanation!!! Tack!

[hoyunmyoun]

why does känner sounds like "ʃanner"??

[Atudaesrtiel]

Often having a K before a letters like ö,ä,j, can result in a sh-//who--//etc. sound.

[jstoeltzing]

What is the diffrences between känner and känner till? Is it like know and know of in a scence?

[Zmrzlina]

In some sense, yes. Känna is used for feelings and knowing people. Känna till means to know of something.

Jag känner henne, och jag känner till hennes historia. ("I know her, and I know of her history")

[jstoeltzing]

Thank you!

[g.uh]

Hennes historia is somehow a piece of information. It should be vet in this case. No? :/

[HelenCarlsson]

Yes, "Jag vet hennes historia" is also a correct sentence :).

[harmjangrinwis]

Could this sentence also be used to describe knowing someone as in knowing sexually? Like in the biblical sense?

[Zmrzlina]

Only in a biblical context.

[DiscentemM]

I (yet) can't hear the difference myself, so I'll ask it here: is the 'k' in words like this (or köper and kysser) pronounced as the 'ch' in the English 'choose' or the 'sh' in the word 'shoes'? They are almost the same sound, "men det är vigtikt att vet när jag vill lär talar svenska" (is that properly spelled? :p)

And following up that question: is there a rule that explains when the 'k' is a 'sh (or ch)' sound and when it's just the 'k' sound from 'önskar'? That'd help me alot! :)

[JonEnMiljon]

The 'k' in 'känner/köper/kysser' has no real equivalent in English. If you are familiar with German, it is approxiamtely the same sound as in 'ich' ('I'). Here is a good explanation of the different pronunciations of 'k' in Swedish
"men det är viktigt att veta när jag vill lära mig tala (not talar) svenska"