
saber Preterite Conjugation
saber — to know
In the preterite, saber changes meaning to 'found out' or 'learned' and uses the irregular stem 'sup-'.
saber Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite when you want to say you discovered a specific piece of information at a particular moment. Unlike the imperfect, which means 'knew', the preterite supe implies the moment of realization.
Notes on saber in the Preterite
Saber is highly irregular here. It uses the stem 'sup-' and takes the special irregular endings (-e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron) with no accents.
Example Sentences
Supe la verdad ayer.
I found out the truth yesterday.
yo
¿Cuándo supiste que ella venía?
When did you find out she was coming?
tú
Ellos lo supieron por las noticias.
They found out about it through the news.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using 'sabí' or 'sabi'.
Correct: The form is 'supe'.
Why: Learners often try to apply regular -er endings to the stem, but saber is a 'u-stem' irregular verb in the preterite.
Master Spanish verbs in context
Memorizing tables only gets you so far. Read 200+ illustrated and narrated Spanish stories to see verbs like 'saber' used naturally — in the tenses you're learning.
Related Tenses
Present
yo: sé
Saber is regular in the present tense except for the 'yo' form, which is the unique word 'sé'.
Imperfect
yo: sabía
The imperfect of saber is completely regular: sabía, sabías, sabía, sabíamos, sabíais, sabían.
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'.