saber Imperfect Conjugation
saber — to know
The imperfect of saber is completely regular: sabía, sabías, sabía, sabíamos, sabíais, sabían.
saber Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe a state of knowledge in the past—when you 'knew' something over a period of time or as background info.
Notes on saber in the Imperfect
Saber is regular in the imperfect. It uses the standard -er endings with the characteristic 'ía' sound.
Example Sentences
Yo no sabía que era tu cumpleaños.
I didn't know it was your birthday.
yo
Sabíamos que el examen sería difícil.
We knew the exam would be difficult.
nosotros
Ellas sabían la respuesta.
They knew the answer.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Confusing 'sabía' with 'supe'.
Correct: Use 'sabía' for 'I knew' and 'supe' for 'I found out'.
Why: In English, 'knew' covers both, but Spanish distinguishes between the state of knowing (imperfect) and the event of learning (preterite).
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: sé
Saber is regular in the present tense except for the 'yo' form, which is the unique word 'sé'.
Preterite
yo: supe
In the preterite, saber changes meaning to 'found out' or 'learned' and uses the irregular stem 'sup-'.
Future
yo: sabré
Saber uses the irregular stem 'sabr-' followed by standard future endings.
Conditional
yo: sabría
The conditional uses the same irregular stem as the future: 'sabr-'.
Present Subjunctive
yo: sepa
The present subjunctive of saber is irregular: sepa, sepas, sepa, sepamos, sepáis, sepan.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: supiera
The imperfect subjunctive uses the preterite stem 'sup-': supiera, supieras, supiera...
Affirmative Imperative
yo: sabe
The imperative of saber is rarely used alone but appears in phrases like 'Sabe que...' or 'Sepa usted...'.
Negative Imperative
yo: no sepas
All negative commands for saber use the present subjunctive forms preceded by 'no'.