Verbs with similar meaning

Conozco a una chica que sabe chino

Up to now we have, surprisingly, met over seventy verbs. It means that now you can describe more than seventy different actions in Spanish, using both regular and irregular verbs.

Among this considerable number of verbs, there are some that might produce confusion.

In this lesson we are going to list five pairs of verbs with similar meaning, that should be clearly distinguished.

saber vs. conocer

Both verbs are translated as “to know”, but they are used in different situations.

saber – to know something in general, something abstract

conocer – to get or to be acquainted with somebody or something

Saber is needed to tell about the knowledge of some facts. In this case it can be followed by such conjunctions as que, dónde, cómo, etc.

Juan sabe que yo tengo un hermano — Juan knows, that I have a brother

No sé dónde está Juan — I don’t know where Juan is

No sabemos cuánto cuestan estos zapatos — We don’t know how much these shoes cost

Saber is also used when someone learned or memorized something and now they know it.

Estos adolescentes saben español muy bien — These teenagers know Spanish very well

Tú sabes mi número de teléfono — You know my phone number

No sé esta canción — I don’t know this song

Conocer is about knowing something material. In most cases it’s referred to being already acquainted with a person or a place.

¿Conoces a mis padres? — Do you know my parents? Are you already acquainted with them?

No, no conozco a tus padres — No, I don’t know your parents

Los turistas conocen muy bien Barcelona — The tourists know Barcelona very well. They are already acquainted with the city.

Sometimes Spanish speakers can ask you a question like this one:

¿Conoces Argentina? — Do you know Argentina?

This means “Have you ever been to Argentina?”

Conocer also means “to get acquainted with somebody”.

Quiero conocer a esa chica – I want to get acquainted with that girl

Try it yourself:

Do you know, that Maria is married?

I know where the bank is

We know Carlos

They know many Spanish words

I know that bar

Have your parents been to Spain?

We want to get acquainted with your teacher

Among other things, the verb saber, in combination with an infinitive, means “to know how to do something”.

saber hacer algo – to know how to do something

Yo sé nadar – I know how to swim

¿Sabes bailar? – Can you dance? Do you know how to dance?

Try it yourself:

Does Andres know how to drive a car?

We know how to code

amar vs. querer

This pair of verbs means “to love”. And this is how to say I love you in Spanish:

Te quiero – I love you

Te amo – I love you

There is also little difference between these two expressions.

Te amo means “to feel love” or “to be in love” with somebody.

Te quiero expresses a less strong feeling. It can be used in relation to friends, as you were saying “I appreciate you”, “You are dear to me”. It doesn’t necessarily mean being in love.

As you know from the previous lessons, the verb querer also means “to want”, and this is its most common use case.

Quiero viajar a París — I want to go to Paris

¿Queréis vivir en Cuba? — Do you want to live in Cuba?

In this case the verb querer will never be translated as “to love doing something”.

Compare:

querer + person – to love somebody

querer + infinitive – to want to do something

Laura quiere a Silvio – Laura loves Silvio

Laura quiere comprar un coche – Laura wants to buy a car

Sometimes the infinitive can be omitted after querer, but this still means “to want something”.

Quiero un coche – I want a car

Mamá, queremos un helado – Mommy, we want an ice cream

If you are going to passionately say “I want you”, tell him or her this one:

Te deseo – I want you

Try it yourself:

I love Gabriela

I want to work in that firm

The child wants chocolate

The child loves chocolate

What do you want?

I don’t want to study

My friends love Spanish cuisine

My friends want Spanish cuisine

hablar vs. decir

The difference between hablar and decir is the same as the difference between “to speak” and “to say”.

hablar – to speak, to talk

decir – to say, to tell

Hablar is referred either to the physical ability to speak, or to having a conversation with someone.

Hablo español — I speak Spanish

Tu hablas muy rápido — You speak very fast

Carolina habla con su amiga — Carolina talks to her friend

Decir means “to say” or “to tell” something particular: a word, an idea, a plan, a quote, etc. Quite often the verb decir is followed by the conjunction que.

Luis dice a su novia: “Te amo” — Luis says to his girlfriend: “I love you”

Alberto dice que David está en Brasil — Alberto says that David is in Brazil

Susana dice una noticia a Juan — Susana tells a news to Juan

¿Qué dices a tus hijos cuando piden dulces? — What do you say to your children when the ask for sweets?

Try it yourself:

Do you speak English? (usted)

Leonardo says, that he doesn’t speak Spanish

I talk to my friends on the phone

What does the teacher say?

What does the teacher talk about?

ir vs. venir

Ir and venir are just like the English “to go” and “to come”, respectively. The difference consists in the direction of the movement.

ir – to go (there)

venir – to come (here)

In simple terms:

ir is a movement from here to there.

venir is a movement from there to here

The verb ir refers to distancing from the place where the speaker is, while venir means approaching the place where the speaker is.

Imagine this situation. You are outdoors waiting for your friend Luis. You see him coming towards you. Then you say: Luis viene. You can also ask him: ¿De dónde vienes? As a response you hear: Vengo del supermercado.

After some time chatting with Luis, he starts going away. Then you say: Luis va a casa. To find out, if he indeed is going home, you might ask: ¿Adónde vas?

Ir and venir make it possible to describe two opposite movement directions.

¿Adónde vas? — Where are you going?

Voy al cine — I’m going to the movies

¿De dónde vienes? — Where are you coming from?

Vengo del cine — I’m coming from the movies

Don’t say: ¿De dónde vas? or Voy del cine

Let’s take another example. You are relaxing at your villa in Spain, when suddenly your friend Alba calls you. She tells you, that she is in the metro going somewhere. Then you ask: ¿Adónde vas? To what she responds: Voy a Ikea. If you want to ask her, when she is going to come to your place, you can say: ¿Cuándo vienes a mi casa? And here comes the tricky part. To answer this question Alba can’t use the verb venir, because she is not at your home. It would be wrong to say: Vengo a tu casa a las siete. In this case some other options are applied. One option is to say: Estoy en tu casa a las siete. Another option would be: Llego a tu casa a las siete.

¿Cuándo vienes a mi casa?

a. Estoy en tu casa a las siete

b. Llego a tu casa a las siete

Don’t say: Vengo a tu casa a las siete

You can say “Vengo a tu casa” only if you are already at that place.

Don’t use venir to specify coming to any place. Use it only to indicate coming to the place you are already at.

Try it yourself:

Where are you going? (vosotros)

We are going to the beach

Where are they coming from?

They are coming from the shop

The boss is asking on the phone from the office:

Will you come to work today?

You are replying from home:

No, today I will not go to work

llevar vs. traer

These two verbs resemble the English “to carry” and “to bring”.

llevar – to carry (there)

traer – to bring (here)

Llevar and traer have the same logic as ir and venir.

Mi mamá va por la calle y lleva un bolso — My mom is going along the street and is carrying a bag

Mi mamá viene a casa y trae frutas — My mom is coming home and is bringing a bag

¿Adónde llevas ese paraguas? — Where are you carrying that umbrella?

¿Me traes el paraguas, por favor? — Will you bring me the umbrella, please?

You can learn this analogy:

El que va, lleva

El que viene, trae

Llevar can sometimes be translated as “to take”. For example, to take a child to school.

El padre lleva al niño al colegio en bicicleta – The father takes the child to school on bicycle

This is where the expression “para llevar” comes from.

para llevar – for takeaway

Try it yourself:

I’m carrying a present for my son

Luis brings me a present

Could you bring the food to the granny?

Could you bring me the food?

One pizza for takeaway, please

Now, when you know the difference between all these verbs in detail, try to use them right. Very soon you will find out more use cases of these verbs, but all of them are based on what we have just talked about.