The Italian Verb Conoscere (to know): Conjugation and usage with audio examples

The Italian verb conoscere can be translated into English as to know, to be familiar with, to have experience of. Conoscere is an irregular verb, which means that it does not vary in a regular way throughout its conjugation. However, it is not as hard to conjugate as other irregular Italian verbs, because the irregularity mainly affects the remote past tense. The verb conoscere belongs to the Italian second conjugation, where the infinitive form ends in -ere.

If you would like more information on how to conjugate the verb conoscere, as well as examples of its usage, this article is for you.

Table of Contents

Present indicative conjugation of conoscere (indicativo presente)

The table below shows the conjugation of the verb conoscere in the present indicative tense.

Conoscere in the present indicative (Italian conjugation)	Conoscere in the present indicative (English translation)
Io conosco	I have knowledge of
Tu conosci	You have knowledge of
Lui/ lei conosce	He/ she has knowledge of
Noi conosciamo	We have knowledge of
Voi conoscete	You (pl) have knowledge of
Loro conoscono	They have knowledge of

The Italian verb conoscere is used in the present tense to talk about things you know, are familiar with, or have experience of. You can also use the Italian present tense of conoscere to talk about future plans which are going to happen with certainty.

You can use the Italian verb conoscere in the present tense:

• To talk about things you are or aren’t familiar with
  • Non conosco bene il lavoro di questo artista (I’m not very familiar with the work of this artist)

• To talk about meeting someone
  • Domani conosco il nuovo insegnante (I’m meeting the new teacher tomorrow) – Note that, in this case, the present tense of conoscere is being used to convey a future action that will definitely happening. The present continuous translates this well in English.

• To talk about your knowledge of someone
  • Lui conosce Rita meglio di chiunque altro (He knows Rita better than anyone else)

Present perfect indicative conjugation of conoscere (passato prossimo)

The table below shows the conjugation of the verb conoscere in the present perfect indicative tense.

Conoscere in the present perfect indicative (Italian conjugation)	Conoscere in the present perfect indicative (English translation)
Io ho conosciuto	I had knowledge of | I’ve had knowledge of
Tu hai conosciuto	You had knowledge of | You’ve had knowledge of
Lui/ lei ha conosciuto	He/ she had knowledge of | He’s had knowledge of
Noi abbiamo conosciuto	We had knowledge of | We’ve had knowledge of
Voi avete conosciuto	You (pl.) had knowledge of | You’ve had knowledge of
Loro hanno conosciuto	They had knowledge of | They’ve had knowledge of

Should I use an essere or avere auxiliary with conoscere?

The present perfect tense in Italian requires an auxiliary, essere or avere. Knowing which of the two is the right one to know can be tricky sometimes.

Conoscere takes the avere auxiliary most of the time, as it is mostly a verb which takes a direct object, because the action of knowing is directly carried out onto something or someone. However, when conoscere is used to convey a reflexive or reciprocal action, it takes the essere auxiliary.

For example:

• Ci siamo conosciuti tre anni fa (we met each other three years ago) – note that, in this example, conoscere is used to describe a reciprocal action (meeting each other)
• Durante quella esperienza, mi sono conosciuta molto meglio (during that experience, I got to know myself a lot better) – in this example, conoscere is used to describe a reflexive action (knowing oneself)

It is important to remember that, whenever a verb takes the essere auxiliary, the past participle part of the present perfect must be made to match the subject of the sentence in gender and number.

How to use the present perfect tense of conoscere

Use the present perfect tense of the Italian verb conoscere to talk about your familiarity with something at a certain point in the past. The present perfect tense is a spotlight on a particular moment in the past.

Use conoscere in the present perfect tense:

• To talk about when you became familiar with something
  • Durante quell’ anno in Inghilterra, ha conosciuto meglio la cultura inglese (during that year in England, he/ she got to know the British culture better)

• To talk about when you met, or didn’t meet, someone
  • Non ha mai conosciuto sua cugina (she never met her cousin)

Imperfect indicative conjugation of conoscere (imperfetto)

The table below shows the conjugation of the verb conoscere in the imperfect indicative tense.

Conoscere in the imperfect indicative (Italian conjugation)	Conoscere in the imperfect indicative (English translation)
Io conoscevo	I had knowledge of | I used to have knowledge of
Tu conoscevi	You had knowledge of | You used to have knowledge of
Lui/ lei conosceva	He/she had knowledge of | He/she used to have knowledge of
Noi conoscevamo	We had knowledge of | We used to have knowledge of
Voi conoscevate	You (pl.) had knowledge of | You (pl.) used to have knowledge of
Loro conoscevano	They had knowledge of | They used to have knowledge of

You can use the Italian verb conoscere in the imperfect tense to talk about things that you used to be familiar with or people you used to know over a period of time in the past or repeatedly in the past.

Use conoscere in the imperfect tense:

• To talk about the status of your familiarity with something in the past
  • Non conoscevo questa serie TV (I didn’t know this TV series) – Here the imperfect tense conveys the idea that the TV series wasn’t known to you throughout the period of time in the past which led up to the moment when you got to know it

• To describe becoming familiar with something repeatedly in the past
  • Ogni estate, durante le vacanze scolastiche, conoscevano sempre nuovi bambini (every summer, during the school holidays, they always met new children) Here the imperfect tense conveys the idea that the meeting of new children happened routinely over each summer in the past

Past perfect indicative conjugation of conoscere (trapassato prossimo)

The table below shows the conjugation of the verb conoscere in the past perfect indicative tense.

Conoscere in the past perfect indicative (Italian conjugation)	Conoscere in the past perfect indicative (English translation)
Io avevo conosciuto	I had had knowledge of
Tu avevi conosciuto	You had had knowledge of
Lui/ lei aveva conosciuto	He/ she had had knowledge of
Noi avevamo conosciuto	We had had knowledge of
Voi avevate conosciuto	You had had knowledge of
Loro avevano conosciuto	They had had knowledge of

The Italian verb conoscere in the past perfect tense is used to set your familiarity with something or someone further back in the past than another event in the sentence.

Tenses in the past perfect in Italian describe the moment that something happens, rather than an action stretching over a period of time. For this reason, the verb conoscere in the past perfect tense tends to be used mostly in the sense of “to meet” or “to become acquainted with someone”.

Note that conoscere can take an essere auxiliary in the past perfect tense if it is used in a reflexive or reciprocal way.

Use conoscere in the past perfect tense:

• To describe meeting someone before a certain event which happened in the past
  • Lei mi ha detto che aveva conosciuto suo marito quindici anni fa (she told me that she had met her husband fifteen years ago)

Remote past indicative conjugation of conoscere (passato remoto)

The table below shows the conjugation of the verb conoscere in the remote past indicative tense.

Conoscere in the remote past indicative (Italian conjugation)	Conoscere in the remote past indicative (English translation)
Io conobbi	I had knowledge of
Tu conoscesti	You had knowledge of
Lui/ lei conobbe	He/ she had knowledge of
Noi conoscemmo	We had knowledge of
Voi conosceste	You (pl.) had knowledge of
Loro conobbero	They had knowledge of

The remote past indicative in Italian is used to talk about history or facts within a written story. You are most likely to find the remote past indicative of conoscere in novels, articles or essays.

Use the remote past tense of conoscere:

• To describe familiarity with something or someone, or meeting someone as part of history or within a story
  • Gli italiani conobbero la guerra diverse volte nel corso della storia  (The Italians experienced war several times during the course of history)

Preterite perfect indicative conjugation of conoscere (trapassato remoto)

The table below shows the conjugation of the verb conoscere in the preterite perfect indicative tense.

Conoscere in the preterite perfect indicative (Italian conjugation)	Conoscere in the preterite perfect indicative (English translation)
Io ebbi conosciuto	I had had knowledge of
Tu avesti conosciuto	You had had knowledge of
Lui/ lei ebbe conosciuto	He/ she had had knowledge of
Noi avemmo conosciuto	We had had knowledge of
Voi aveste conosciuto	You (pl.) had had knowledge of
Loro ebbero conosciuto	They had had knowledge of

The preterite perfect tense of the verb conoscere is rarely used in spoken Italian today and is most likely to be found in written language such as novels, articles and essays. The Italian preterite perfect is used to set an action further back in the past than another action in the remote past.

Note that conoscere can take an essere auxiliary in the preterite perfect tense if it is used in a reflexive or reciprocal way.

Use the preterite perfect indicative of conoscere:

• To describe familiarity with something or someone, or meeting someone, prior to other actions in the sentence
  • Dopo che ebbero conosciuto la guerra, gli Italiani dovettero affrontare una situazione economica difficile (after experiencing the war, the Italians had to face a difficult economic situation)

Simple future indicative conjugation of conoscere (futuro semplice)

The table below shows the conjugation of the verb conoscere in the simple future indicative tense.

Conoscere in the simple future indicative (Italian conjugation)	Conoscere in the simple future indicative (English translation)
Io conoscerò	I will have knowledge of
Tu conoscerai	You will have knowledge of
Lui/ lei conoscerà	He/ she will have knowledge of
Noi conosceremo	We will have knowledge of
Voi conoscerete	You (pl.) will have knowledge of
Loro conosceranno	They will have knowledge of

The simple future tense of the verb conoscere in Italian is used to describe knowing someone, or familiarity with something or someone, which will, with certainty, take place in the future.

Use the simple future tense of conoscere:

• To say who you will meet in the near or distant future
  • Nel secondo anno di università conoscerò il nuovo professore (in the second year of university I will meet the new professor)

• To talk about things that you will be familiar with or experience in the near or distant future
  • Dopo il corso di medicina, conosceranno bene l’ anatomia (after the medicine course, they will have good knowledge of anatomy)

Future perfect indicative conjugation of conoscere (futuro anteriore)

The table below shows the conjugation of the verb conoscere in the future perfect indicative tense.

Conoscere in the future perfect indicative (Italian conjugation)	Conoscere in the future perfect indicative (English translation)
Io avrò conosciuto	I will have had knowledge of
Tu avrai consciuto	You will have had knowledge of
Lui/ lei avrà conosciuto	He/ she will have had knowledge of
Noi avremo conosciuto	We will have had knowledge of
Voi avrete conosciuto	You (pl.) will have had knowledge of
Loro avranno conosciuto	They will have had knowledge of

You can use the future perfect tense of conoscere in Italian when the future action of being familiar with something or someone will happen before other future actions or events. Conoscere in this tense is mostly used in the sense of “meeting someone”.

Note that conoscere can take an essere auxiliary in the future perfect tense if it is used in a reflexive or reciprocal way.

Use the future perfect tense of conoscere:

• To talk about meeting someone in the future, before another action in the future
  • Sono già arrivati all’evento. Vedrai che, per quando li raggiungiamo, avranno conosciuto molte persone (they’re already at the event. You’ll see, by the time we get there, they’ll have already met many people)

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Present conditional conjugation of conoscere (condizionale presente)

The table below shows the conjugation of the verb conoscere in the present conditional tense.

Conoscere in the present conditional tense (Italian conjugation)	Conoscere in the present conditional tense (English translation)
Io conoscerei	I would have knowledge of
Tu conosceresti	You would have knowledge of
Lui/ lei conoscerebbe	He/ she would have knowledge of
Noi conosceremmo	We would have knowledge of
Voi conoscereste	You would have knowledge of
Loro conoscerebbero	They would have knowledge of

Use the present conditional tense of conoscere in Italian to express the possibility of being familiar with something or someone and to make if clauses. In Italian if clauses, the present conditional tense is used in combination with the present subjunctive.

Here is how you can use the present conditional tense of conoscere:

• To make a hypothetical sentence about being familiar with something
  • Se avesse tempo di esplorare, conoscerebbe meglio la città (if he/ she had time to explore, he/ she would know the city better)

• To make a hypothetical sentence about being familiar with someone
  • Se non fosse così timida, la conoscerei meglio (if she wasn’t so shy, I would get to know her better)

Past perfect conditional conjugation of conoscere (condizionale passato)

The table below shows the conjugation of the verb conoscere in the past perfect conditional tense.

Conoscere in the past perfect conditional tense (Italian conjugation)	Conoscere in the past perfect conditional tense (English translation)
Io avrei conosciuto	I would have had knowledge of
Tu avresti conosciuto	You would have had knowledge of
Lui/ lei avrebbe conosciuto	He/ she would have had knowledge of
Noi avremmo conosciuto	We would have had knowledge of
Voi avreste conosciuto	You would have had knowledge of
Loro avrebbero conosciuto	They would have had knowledge of

The past perfect conditional tense of conoscere in Italian can be used to describe something or someone that you would have been familiar with in the past, or to indicate a potential future action within a sentence in the past. For if clauses in the past, the past perfect conditional tense is used in combination with the past perfect subjunctive.

Note that conoscere can take an essere auxiliary in the future perfect tense if it is used in a reflexive or reciprocal way.

Here is how you can use the past perfect conditional tense of conoscere:

• To talk about the past possibility of being familiar with something
  • Se avesse avuto tempo di esplorare, avrebbe conosciuto meglio la città (If he had had time to explore, he would have known the city better)

• To talk about the past possibility of being familiar with someone
  • Se non fosse stata cosi timida, l’ avrei conosciuta meglio (If she hadn’t been so shy, I’d have gotten to know her better)

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Imperative conjugation of conoscere (imperativo)

The table below shows the conjugation of the verb conoscere in the imperative mood. The verb conoscere in the imperative mood is best translated into English as “get to know” or “know”.

Conoscere in the imperative mood (Italian conjugation)	Conoscere in the imperative mood (English translation)
(Tu) conosci	Get to know
(Noi) conosciamo	Let’s get to know
(Voi) conoscete	Get to know (pl)

You can use the imperative mood of the verb conoscere in Italian to make an invitation (“let’s” in English) or give an order. Conoscere doesn’t lend itself very well to being used in the imperative mood. One viable alternative to using conoscere on its own is using expressions like “devi conoscere” (you must konw).

For example:

• To suggest that someone gets to know someone
  • Conoscili meglio! (get to know them better!)

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Present and past infinitive conjugation of conoscere (infinito presente e passato)

The table below shows the infinitive form of the verb conoscere in the present and past tense.

Conoscere in the infinitive mood, past and present tense (Italian conjugation)	Conoscere in the infinitive mood, past and present tense (English translation)
Conoscere	To have knowledge of / knowing
Avere conosciuto	Having had knowledge of / having known

The infinitive form of the verb conoscere in Italian, both past and present tense, can be used:

• To indicate whether you like or don’t like having knowledge of something/ someone (after the verb “mi piace”)
  • Mi piace conoscere meglio i miei colleghi di lavoro (I like getting to know my work colleagues better)

• After a verb-preposition combination which requires to be followed by a verb in the infinitive form, such as “cercare di…”
  • Cerca di conoscerla meglio (try to get to know her better)

• After a verb which requires to be followed by a verb in the infinitive form, such as “voglio”, “posso”, “devo”
  • Dovrei conoscere meglio la sua storia per dare un giudizio (I should have better knowledge of his / her background to make a judgement)

• In general, as the subject or object of a sentence
  • Conoscere la filosofia può tornare utile per molte cose (having a knowledge of philosophy can come in useful for many things)

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Past participle tense of conoscere (participio passato)

The past participle tense of conoscere is conosciuto. This is used in conjunction with the auxiliary avere or essere to form the present perfect tense:

For example:

• Non ho mai conosciuto i miei cugini (I never met my cousins)

There is also a present participle tense of conoscere, which is used as a noun but is technically a verb. This is conoscente or conoscenti and means “acquaintance”.

For example:

• Ha molti conoscenti ma pochi veri amici (he/ she has many acquaintances but few true friends)

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Present and past gerund conjugation of conoscere (gerundio presente e passato)

The table below shows the gerund mood of the Italian verb conoscere in the present and past tense forms.

Conoscere in the present and past gerund (Italian conjugation)	Conoscere in the present and past gerund (English translation)
Conoscendo	Having knowledge of
Avendo conosciuto	Having had knowledge of

The gerund of andare, in both the present and past tense, is used to talk about living situations which are ongoing right now or in this period of time (preceded by the verb “stare”), or to express causality in a sentence.

The present and past tense gerund of conoscere are used to describe the process of acquiring knowledge of something or someone when the process is ongoing right now or in this period of time (preceded by the verb “stare”). The gerund can also be used to express causality.

Use the gerund of conoscere:

• To talk about acquiring knowledge right now or in this period of time
  • Grazie a questo corso sto conoscendo meglio la storia medievale (thanks to this course, I’m getting to know medieval history better)

• In a phrase that is connected to another phrase and expresses causality
  • Avendo conosciuto il mondo del lavoro nel suo settore, ha deciso che fosse meglio diventare libero professionista (having experienced the world of work in his industry, he decided that it was better to become self employed)

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Present subjunctive conjugation of conoscere (congiuntivo presente)

The table below shows the conjugation of the verb conoscere in the present subjunctive tense.

Conoscere in the present subjunctive (Italian conjugation)	Conoscere in the present subjunctive (English translation)
(Che) io conosca	(That) I have knowledge of
(Che) tu conosca	(That) you have knowledge of
(Che) lui/ lei conosca	(That) he/she has knowledge of
(Che) noi conosciamo	(That) we have knowledge of
(Che) voi conoscete	(That) you (pl.) have knowledge of
(Che) loro conoscano	(That) they have knowledge of

The present tense subjunctive of conoscere is used within a dependent clause which can often be introduced by the conjunction “che” (that) or “perchè” (because), so, if you start a dependent clause with “che” or “perchè”, it’s likely that, within it, you might need to use the subjunctive.

Note: the subjunctive mood is also used in a dependent clause when the main clause is in the conditional mood. For example, vorrei che tu lo conosca meglio (I’d like you to get to know him better).

The Italian subjunctive can be difficult to learn and to use, not only for learners of Italian, but for native speakers too. If you are learning Italian and struggling with the subjunctive, it might be helpful to bear in mind that, although, in order to be grammatically correct in Italian, use of the subjunctive is required, more and more Italians now don’t use it in spoken, informal, Italian and limit it to writing or more formal situations.

Use the present subjunctive of conoscere:

• To talk about the action of having knowledge of something or someone within a dependent clause
  • Vorrei che conosca meglio il loro carattere (I’d like him/ her to know their character better)

Note: in today’s spoken Italian, many might use the present indicative tense instead of the present subjunctive and say: “Vorrei che conosce meglio il loro carattere” instead.

Present perfect subjunctive conjugation of conoscere (congiuntivo passato)

The table below shows the conjugation of the verb conoscere in the present perfect subjunctive tense.

Conoscere in the perfect subjunctive (Italian conjugation)	Conoscere in the perfect subjunctive (English translation)
(Che) io abbia conosciuto	(That) I had knowledge of
(Che) tu abbia conosciuto	(That) you had knowledge of
(Che) lui/ lei abbia conosciuto	(That) he/she had knowledge of
(Che) noi abbiamo conosciuto	(That) we had knowledge of
(Che) voi abbiate conosciuto	(That) you (pl.) had knowledge of
(Che) loro abbiano conosciuto	(That) they had knowledge of

The present perfect subjunctive of conoscere is used within a dependent clause which contains a past action. This can often be introduced by the conjunction “che” (that) or “perchè” (because), so, if you start a dependent clause with “che” or “perchè”, it’s likely that, within it, you might need to use the subjunctive mode.

Note: the subjunctive mood is also used in a dependent clause when the main clause is in the conditional mood. For example, vorrei che tu lo abbia conosciuto meglio (I wish you had known him better).

Use the present perfect subjunctive of conoscere:

• To talk about having knowledge of something or someone within a dependent clause which contains a past action
  • Spero che lei abbia conosciuto meglio i suoi compagni di classe durante la gita (I hope she got to know her classmates better during the trip)

Note: in today’s spoken Italian, many might not use the subjunctive and use the present perfect indicative instead: “Spero che lei ha conosciuto meglio i suoi compagni di classe durante la gita“.

Imperfect subjunctive conjugation of conoscere (congiuntivo imperfetto)

The table below shows the conjugation of the verb conoscere in the imperfect subjunctive tense.

Conoscere in the imperfect subjunctive (Italian conjugation)	Conoscere in the imperfect subjunctive (English translation)
(Che) io conoscessi	(That) I would have knowledge of
(Che) tu conoscessi	(That) you would have knowledge of
(Che) lui/ lei conoscesse	(That) he/ she would have knowledge of
(Che) noi conoscessimo	(That) we would have knowledge of
(Che) voi conosceste	(That) you (pl.) would have knowledge of
(Che) loro conoscessero	(That) they would have knowledge of

Note: the subjunctive mood is also used in a dependent clause when the main clause is in the conditional mood. For example, vorrei che tu lo conoscessi meglio (I’d like you to get to know him better).

The imperfect subjunctive of conoscere is used within a dependent clause where the action of the main clause is in the past. This is often introduced by the conjunction “che” (that) or “perchè” (because). A second use of the imperfect subjunctive is to make the first part of an if clause.

Use the imperfect subjunctive of conoscere:

• To talk about having knowledge of something or someone within a dependent clause when the main sentence is in the past
  • Volevo che lei conoscesse meglio i suoi compagni durante la gita (I wanted her to get to know her classmates better during the trip)

In today’s spoken Italian, many might not use the subjunctive in this case, and use the imperfect tense in both the main and dependent sentences: “Volevo che lei conosceva meglio i suoi compagni durante la gita”.

• To make a hypothesis about having knowledge of something or someone
  • Se non lo conoscessi così bene, mi preoccupererei (if I didn’t know him so well, I’d be worried)

Note that the second part of the if clause in Italian uses the conditional mood (preoccupererei).

In today’s spoken Italian, many might choose to not use the subjunctive and to put both parts of the if clause in the imperfect tense: “Se non lo conoscevo così bene, mi preoccupavo”. Although this wouldn’t hinder someone’s understanding of this sentence, the tense usage is grammatically incorrect.

Past perfect subjunctive conjugation of conoscere (congiuntivo trapassato)

The table below shows the conjugation of the verb conoscere in the past perfect subjunctive tense.

Conoscere in the past perfect subjunctive (Italian conjugation)	Conoscere in the past perfect subjunctive (English translation)
(Che) io avessi conosciuto	(That) I had had knowledge of
(Che) tu avessi conosciuto	(That) you had had knowledge of
(Che) lui/ lei avesse conosciuto	(That) he/ she had had knowledge of
(Che) noi avessimo conosciuto	(That) we had had knowledge of
(Che) voi aveste conosciuto	(That) you (pl.) had had knowledge of
(Che) loro avessero conosciuto	(That) they had had knowledge of

The past perfect subjunctive of conoscere is used within a dependent clause, often introduced by the conjunction “che” (that) or “perchè” (because), when both the main clause and the dependent clause are in the past. A second use of the past perfect subjunctive is to make the first part of an if clause placed in the past.

Note: the subjunctive mood is also used in a dependent clause when the main clause is in the conditional mood. For example, vorrei che tu lo avessi conosciuto meglio (I wish you’d got known him better).

Use the past perfect subjunctive of conoscere in Italian:

• To talk about having knowledge of something or someone within a dependent sentence when both the main and dependent clauses are in the past
  • Speravo che tu avessi conosciuto meglio i compagni di classe durante la gita (I hoped that you’d gotten to know your classmates better during the trip)

Note: in today’s spoken Italian, many might choose to use the past perfect tense in the dependent clause “Speravo che tu avevi conosciuto meglio i compagni di classe durante la gita“. Although this swap is grammatically incorrect, it is increasingly used and today’s spoken Italian, and does not sound too “wrong” to a native ear.

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Conoscere or sapere?

The Italian language has two verbs which can be translated as “to know”: conoscere and sapere. This causes confusion for many learners of Italian, who sometimes wonder if they should use one or the other.

The Italian verb sapere is used to express knowledge of facts and events, for example the time and date. On the other hand, conoscere is used for something that you have experience with or in-depth knowledge of. Conoscere is also very suitable to describe making someone’s acquaintance or knowing a person’s character.

Here are some examples of the usage of conoscere vs sapere:

• Sai che ore sono? (do you know what time it is?)
• So che hanno due figlie ma non le conosco (I know they have two daughters but I don’t know them)
• Non sapevo che si fossero trasferiti (I didn’t know they’d moved)
• Conosco bene questa storia (I know this story well)

Concluding thoughts on the verb conoscere

Conoscere is a useful verb to know if you are learning Italian. The main difficulty with this verb is learning when to use it instead of sapere, but this will become easier over time with practice and exposure to different examples.