sabía
sa-BEE-ah
Quick Reference
📝 In Action
Yo no sabía que tenías un hermano.
A2I didn't know you had a brother.
Ella ya sabía la respuesta antes de que el profesor preguntara.
B1She already knew the answer before the teacher asked.
¿Sabías que este edificio es histórico?
A2Did you know that this building is historic?
Él sabía tocar la guitarra muy bien.
B1He knew how to play the guitar very well.
💡 Grammar Points
'Sabía' (I knew) vs. 'Supe' (I found out)
This is a classic Spanish challenge! Use 'sabía' to talk about knowing something over a period of time, like background information. Use 'supe' for the exact moment you found out or learned something. Think of 'sabía' as a state, and 'supe' as a sudden event.
❌ Common Pitfalls
Confusing 'Saber' and 'Conocer'
Mistake: "Yo sabía Madrid."
Correction: 'Saber' is for facts, information, and skills (how to do something). 'Conocer' is for being familiar with people, places, or things. The right way is 'Yo conocía Madrid' (I was familiar with Madrid).
⭐ Usage Tips
Setting the Scene in a Story
'Sabía' is perfect for giving background details in a story. It tells you what a character knew or what the situation was while the main actions were happening. Example: 'Todos estaban nerviosos, pero yo sabía que todo saldría bien.' (Everyone was nervous, but I knew everything would turn out fine.)
🔄 Conjugations
indicative
present
imperfect
preterite
subjunctive
present
imperfect
✏️ Quick Practice
💡 Quick Quiz: sabía
Question 1 of 1
Which sentence correctly uses 'sabía' to describe background knowledge?
📚 More Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does 'sabía' have an accent mark on the 'i'?
The accent mark is there to show you how to say the word. It breaks up the 'ia' vowel pair, telling you to pronounce them as two separate sounds: sa-BÍ-a. Without it, it might sound like 'sa-bia'. This happens with many verbs in this past tense, like 'tenía' (I had) and 'podía' (I could).
Can 'sabía' mean 'I knew how to' do something?
Yes, absolutely. When 'saber' is followed by another verb (like nadar, cocinar, hablar), it means 'to know how to' do that action. For example, 'De niño, yo sabía nadar muy bien' means 'As a child, I knew how to swim very well'.