connaissez

Connaissez is a French verb form that belongs to the verb connaître, meaning to know or to be acquainted with. It is specifically the second-person plural present indicative form, used with vous, as in vous connaissez. The form also appears in the imperative mood when addressing multiple people, as in Connaissez ce quartier, though the imperative shares the same spelling as the present tense for this pronoun.

Connaître is etymologically derived from Latin cognoscere, meaning to learn or to become acquainted. In modern French, its semantic field covers being familiar with people, places, works of art, or other things, rather than merely knowing facts. This distinguishes it from savoir, which is used for knowledge of information, skills, or how to do something.

In practice, connaître expresses acquaintance or familiarity: vous connaissez cette chanson? vous connaissez bien ce quartier? It contrasts with je sais or je connais cela lorsque referring to factual information; for example, je sais où se trouve la gare would be used for factual knowledge, whereas je connais la gare would mean you are familiar with it.

Related forms and phrases include faire connaissance (to become acquainted), se connaître (to know each other), and connaissance (n. knowledge or acquaintance). The pronunciation of connaissez follows the standard spoken French pattern for the -oir verb family, roughly "kohn-eh-say." Understanding the distinction between connaître and savoir is central to using connaître correctly in its form conocer vous connaissez as well as in other conjugations.