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sabías

/sa-BEE-as/

VerbA2irregular er

you knew?Describing a state of knowing something in the past.

Also:did you know?Used to start a question asking about someone's prior knowledge.

Quick Reference

infinitivesaber

gerundsabiendo

past Participlesabido

📝 In Action

No me dijiste nada, pero yo ya lo sabías.

You didn't tell me anything, but I already knew it.

¿Sabías que Madrid es la capital de España?

Did you know that Madrid is the capital of Spain?

Tú sabías que eso iba a pasar, ¿verdad?

You knew that was going to happen, right?

Word Connections

Synonyms

conocías (you knew (a person, place, or thing))

Antonyms

ignorabas (you were unaware of)

Common Collocations

¿Sabías que...? – Did you know that...?

💡 Grammar Points

Describing Past Knowledge vs. Finding Out

Sabías describes a state of knowing something in the past, like background information. Think of it as 'you were aware of'. This is different from supiste, which means 'you found out' at a specific moment.

❌ Common Pitfalls

Mixing up 'sabías' and 'supiste'

Mistake: "To ask 'Did you know Obama was president?', a learner might say: '¿Supiste que Obama fue presidente?'"

Correction: The correct way is: '¿Sabías que Obama fue presidente?'. Use `sabías` for background facts. Use `supiste` for news you just found out, like '¿Supiste lo del accidente?' (Did you find out about the accident?).

⭐ Usage Tips

A Great Conversation Starter

The phrase '¿Sabías que...?' is a perfect way to share a fun fact and start a conversation in Spanish, just like 'Did you know...?' in English. It's friendly and invites the other person to react.

🔄 Conjugations

indicative

present

yosé

túsabes

él/ella/ustedsabe

nosotrossabemos

vosotrossabéis

ellos/ellas/ustedessaben

preterite

yosupe

túsupiste

él/ella/ustedsupo

nosotrossupimos

vosotrossupisteis

ellos/ellas/ustedessupieron

imperfect

yosabía

túsabías

él/ella/ustedsabía

nosotrossabíamos

vosotrossabíais

ellos/ellas/ustedessabían

subjunctive

present

yosepa

túsepas

él/ella/ustedsepa

nosotrossepamos

vosotrossepáis

ellos/ellas/ustedessepan

imperfect

yosupiera

túsupieras

él/ella/ustedsupiera

nosotrossupiéramos

vosotrossupierais

ellos/ellas/ustedessupieran

View All Tenses & Moods →

✏️ Quick Practice

💡 Quick Quiz: sabías

Question 1 of 1

Which sentence correctly asks a friend if they were aware, in the past, that you had a dog?

📚 More Resources

Word Family

saber(to know) - verb

sabio(wise) - adjective

sabiduría(wisdom) - noun

sabiondo(know-it-all) - adjective/noun

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between `sabías` and `sabes`?

`Sabes` is for the present tense: 'you know' right now. `Sabías` is for the past: 'you knew' at some point in the past. For example, 'Tú sabes la respuesta' (You know the answer now) vs. 'Tú sabías la respuesta' (You knew the answer yesterday).

Why does 'saber' change so much in different forms, like 'sé' or 'supe'?

`Saber` is an irregular verb, which means it doesn't follow the normal patterns for verb endings. Many of the most common verbs in Spanish are irregular, so it's helpful to memorize their special forms.