saber

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈseɪ.bɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈseɪ.bə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪbə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: sa‧ber

saber (plural sabers)

1. (American spelling) Alternative form of sabre.
2. (science fiction) Clipping of lightsaber

saber (third-person singular simple present sabers, present participle sabering, simple past and past participle sabered)

1. (American spelling) Alternative form of sabre.

• bares, rabes, besra, Bears, baser, Brase, barse, bears, sabre, BSAer, Breas, Bares, braes

Inherited from Latin sapere (“taste, know”).

• IPA^(key): /saˈbeɾ/ [saˈβ̞eɾ]
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: sa‧ber

saber

1. to know

This entry needs an inflection-table template.

• sabor

• sabre, sebre (directly from Latin sapĕre)
• sapiguer (dialectal)

Inherited from Old Catalan saber, from Vulgar Latin *sapēre, from Latin sapĕre (“taste, know”).

• IPA^(key): (Central) [səˈβɛ]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [səˈbə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [saˈbeɾ]

• Audio:

  (file)

saber (first-person singular present sé, first-person singular preterite sabí, past participle sabut)

1. to know (a fact), to have knowledge
2. to know how to

• saber greu
• sabràs dos i dos quants fan

• sabor

saber m (plural sabers)

1. knowledge, know-how

• conèixer (“to be familiar with”)

• “saber”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “saber”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “saber” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “saber” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From Old Galician-Portuguese saber, from Latin sapere (“taste, know”).

• IPA^(key): /saˈbeɾ/ [s̺aˈβ̞eɾ]
• Rhymes: -eɾ

saber (first-person singular present sei, first-person singular preterite souben, past participle sabido)
saber (first-person singular present sei, first-person singular preterite soubem or soube, past participle sabido, reintegrationist norm)

1. to know (a fact)
2. to know how to do (something)

   Val máis saber que ter (proverb)

   Better to know than to have

3. to find out
4. (intransitive) to taste, to have a taste

   Sabe ben! ― It tastes good!

5. (pronominal) to like, enjoy

   A min sábeme o caldo. ― I like broth / I like this broth.

Like Portuguese and Spanish, Galician has two different verbs that are usually translated to English as “to know”. The verb saber relates to factual knowledge and skills. In contrast, the verb coñecer relates to familiarity with people or places.

Currently, it is not known where the first person singular form that is currently used for the present indicative, "sei", originates from.

• seica

• sabor

• coñecer

saber m (plural saberes)

1. knowledge, know-how

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “saber”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “saber”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “saber”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “saber”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “saber”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈsabər/ [ˈsa.bər]
• Rhymes: -abər
• Syllabification: sa‧ber

saber (plural saber-saber)

1. (politics) syllabic abbreviation of sapu bersih

Borrowed from Malay [Term?] (Bangka dialect).

saber (plural saber-saber)

1. (dialect) the technique of catching fish by damming a river using wood

• “saber” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

• saupre

Inherited from Old Occitan saber, from Vulgar Latin *sapēre, from Latin sapĕre (“taste, know”).

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

saber

1. to know

   Antonym: ignorar

• sabor

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *sapēre, from Latin sapĕre (“taste, know”).

saber

1. to taste (have a certain taste)
2. to know

saber m (oblique plural sabers, nominative singular sabers, nominative plural saber)

1. knowledge

• sabor (noun)

• Catalan: saber

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “sapere”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 11: S–Si, page 193

From Old Galician-Portuguese saber, from Latin sapere (“taste, know”).

The verb’s first-person singular conjugation reflects an original */ˈsajo/, in common with other Romance languages, of uncertain origin. The present subjunctive forms show consonant metathesis: sapiām > */ˈsajpa/ > Portuguese saiba.

• (Rural Central Brazil) IPA^(key): /sɐˈbe(ɹ)/

• Audio (Brazil):

  (file)

• Audio (Brazil):

  (file)

• Audio (Northern Portugal):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sa‧ber

saber (first-person singular present sei, first-person singular preterite soube, past participle sabido)

1. to know
   2. (transitive or intransitive) to be aware, to know [with direct object ‘a fact’ or que (+ indicative clause when positive or subjunctive clause when negated) ‘that ...’ or indirect question]

      Perguntaram-me a resposta, mas eu não sabia. ― They asked me the answer, but I didn’t know.

      Sei que é verdade. ― I know it’s true.

   4. (transitive) to be aware of a value or piece of information
      • 2003, J. K. Rowling, Lia Wyler, Harry Potter e a Ordem da Fênix, Rocco, page 46:

        Olho-Tonto, você sabe que isso é nojento, não sabe?

        Mad-Eye, you know that this is disgusting, don't you?

      Eu sei qual é a capital da Assíria. ― I know what is the capital of Assyria.

      Ele sabe duzentos algarismos do número neperiano. ― He knows two hundred digits of Euler’s number.

   5. (catenative) to know how [with infinitive ‘to do something’]

      Não sei fazer isso, mas ela sabe. ― I don’t know how to do this, but she knows.

      Sabes falar russo? ― Can you speak Russian?

3. (intransitive) to know; to have heard [with de or sobre ‘about something’]

   Soube da explosão que houve no centro? ― Have you heard about the downtown explosion?

4. (intransitive, Portugal) to taste of/like (to have the same taste as) [with a ‘something’]

   Um bom vinho sabe a carvalho. ― A good wine tastes like oak.

5. (intransitive, Portugal) to have a pleasant taste

   Como sabe esse vinho! ― How good does this wine taste!

6. (transitive) to learn (to become informed of something)

   Eles querem saber mais sobre o projeto. ― They want to learn more about the project.

• saber does not mean to know in the sense of knowing someone (who they are); for that, conhecer should be used instead.
• Although nonstandard, some speakers change the conjugation for the first person singular depending on the meaning of the verb: it is conjugated as sei if it means to know, but as saibo if it means to taste. Aside from this case, all the other verb forms are homonymous.

For quotations using this term, see Citations:saber.

• (to know a value): conhecer
• (to know how to do something): conseguir
• (to taste of): ter gosto de

• Kabuverdianu: sabe
• Macanese: sabe
• Macau Pidgin Portuguese: 撒㗑, 撒備, 散拜
  • → Chinese Pidgin English: savvy, sarby
• Papiamentu: sabi
• → Bislama: save
• → Krio: sabi
• → Nigerian Pidgin: sabi
• → Sranan Tongo: sabi
  • Aukan: sabi
  • Saramaccan: sábi
• → Tok Pisin: save

saber m (plural saberes)

1. knowledge; lore (intellectual understanding)

   Synonyms: conhecimento, sabedoria

• dar a saber
• sabe-tudo

Inherited from Latin sapere (“taste, know”). Compare English savvy, savor.

The 1SG reflects an original */ˈsajo/, in common with other Romance languages, of uncertain origin. The present subjunctive forms show consonant metathesis (sapiām > */ˈsajpa/ > Sp. sepa).

• IPA^(key): /saˈbeɾ/ [saˈβ̞eɾ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: sa‧ber

saber (first-person singular present sé, first-person singular preterite supe, past participle sabido)

1. to know, to understand (a fact)

   Sé que volverá. ― I know it'll come back.

   Lo siguiente que sé... ― Next thing I know...

   que yo sepa ― as far as I know

   Si tú supieras... ― If you knew...

2. to know how to do something

   Sabe hablar español.

   He knows how to speak Spanish.

3. (in the preterite tense) to find out, to learn
4. to taste (i.e. have a flavour)

   Sabe a pollo. ― It tastes like chicken.

   Estos plátanos saben bien. ― These bananas taste good.

5. to realize, to know (i.e. recognize)

   El hombre no sabe lo talentoso que su hijo es.

   The man doesn't realize how talented his son is.

6. to tell, to know (i.e. to discern or distinguish if something is the case)

   Siempre es difícil saber si me mientes.

   It's always hard to tell if you're lying to me.

7. (informal) to figure out

   Todavía estamos tratando de saber qué acaba de pasar.

   We're still trying to figure out what just happened.

8. to hear from [with de ‘someone’]

   No he sabido nada de ella en meses.

   I haven't heard from her in months.

9. to hear of, to hear about [with de ‘something’]
10. to learn, to find out, to know [with de ‘about something’]
11. (reflexive) to be known

    Ya se sabe que uno de los factores que aceleran esta enfermedad es el estrés.

    It is known that one of the factors that speeds up this disease is stress.

12. (reflexive) to know (extremely well)

    He oído que te sabes todas las líneas de la película de memoria.

    I heard that you know all the lines of the movie by heart.

13. (colloquial, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru) synonym of soler (in several senses: (auxiliary) to be accustomed to; (imperfect) to used to)

    Synonyms: soler, acostumbrar

The irregular conjugation of saber is the source of two common grammatical errors among Spanish speakers, both of which concern the first-person singular present indicative form:

• The form sabo is frequent among non-native speakers learning the language, and to a lesser extent also among children who are native speakers^[1] (e.g. *(yo) sabo hablar inglés bien ― I know how to speak English well). The correct conjugated form is sé (and thus the above example should read (yo) sé hablar inglés bien), and fluent Spanish speakers generally do not make this mistake; this gave rise to the humorous phrase yo no sabo in Spanish and to the derogatory term no sabo kid in English, both terms referring to the lack of fluency in the language.
• The form sepo is sometimes found with the meaning "to taste" (e.g. *(yo) sepo a azúcar ― I taste like sugar), even among fluent Spanish speakers. This usage is proscribed by the Royal Spanish Academy, who maintain that the conjugation of saber is the same regardless of meaning, thus making sé the correct form in this context as well (i.e., (yo) sé a azúcar).

saber m (plural saberes)

1. knowledge

• → English: savvy (via some creole or pidgin)
• → Ido: savar
• → Sabir: sabir

• “saber”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
• “saber”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010
• “saber”, in Diccionario panhispánico de dudas [Panhispanic Dictionary of Doubts] (in Spanish), 2nd edition, Royal Spanish Academy; Association of Academies of the Spanish Language, 2023, →ISBN