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Kennen vs. Wissen? The Answer To Using ‘To Know’ in German Lies Within

The German language excels at nuanced meaning like how the verb “to know” can be one of two German verbs: kennen vs. wissen. You’ll use them in entirely different contexts and need to learn the differences to be successful (though a native German will understand what you mean if you make a mistake). Kennen relates to having a familiar knowledge about a person or place, while wissen expresses knowledge about specific information you learned.

Knowing when to use one over the other will help your German sound more natural and help you come across as more professional and formal to other German speakers. Find out the rules behind kennen vs. wissen and how to use them in sentences here.

Why are there two words for ‘to know’ in German?

There are two German words for “to know” (kennen and wissen) because the language distinguishes between various types of knowledge more precisely than English. This provides your listener or reader with different contexts for what you mean by “knowing,” just as the unique ways to say “What is your name?” in German or “welcome” in German convey distinct meanings.

Even English has different words for “hearing” vs. “listening,” though they’re both translated as hören (to hear/listen) in German. Making comparisons such as this between new languages and what you already know helps reduce how long it takes to learn German.

Understanding when to use kennen

a man greeting students he knows showing the difference between kennen vs. wissen

So, when is it appropriate to use kennen (to be familiar)? In German, kennen is used when you want to express familiarity with a person, place, or thing because of direct, personal experience. For example, if an associate at work says “hello” in German and introduces you to a new coworker whom you’ve already met, you can say, Ich kenne ihn (I know him).

An easy trick to decide if you should use kennen is if the verb is followed by a noun that is in the accusative case in German. Since kennen requires familiarity with something physical, it will always be followed by a direct object. You can see this in the sentence Ich kenne den Mann (I know the man). Because of the verb kennen, the noun der Mann (the man) becomes the direct object, so you use the accusative masculine article den (the, accusative).

You won’t see this happen with wissen (to know) in German, making this a more obvious way to choose one over the other if you’re unsure of which to choose.

Conjugating kennen in common scenarios

To use kennen (to be familiar with) in a sentence, German grammar demands that it must be conjugated to agree with the subject and tense of the sentence. The subject refers to whatever noun is performing the action of the sentence, while the tense refers to the “when” of your sentence.

You’ll notice that the table below only gives conjugations for kennen in regards to pronouns, but any German noun that doesn’t match with one of the pronouns below can be treated as though it were er (he), sie (she), or es (it), which all conjugate verbs in the same way. For example, if your subject is das Supermarkt (the supermarket), your present tense conjugation of kennen would still be kennt.

Check out this chart of conjugations for kennen within the most common German tenses you’re likely to use as you start learning German.

German Pronoun Present Tense Simple Past Tense Present Perfect Simple Future
ich
I
kenne kannte habe gekannt werde kennen
du
you, informal
kennst kanntest hast gekannt wirst kennen
er/sie/es 
he/she/it
kennt kannte hat gekannt wird kennen
wir
we
kennen kannten haben gekannt werden kennen
ihr 
you, informal plural
kennt kanntet habt gekannt werdet kennen
sie/Sie 
they, informal/you, formal
kennen kannten haben gekannt werden kennen

To give you more context on these conjugations of kennen, here are a few real-world sentence examples for each tense shown in the table above:

  • Kennst du meinen Bruder? = Do you know my brother? (present tense)
  • Ich kannte ihn, als wir Kinder waren. = I have known him since we were kids. (simple past)
  • Sie hat den Film schon einmal gekannt. = She has been familiar with the film. (present perfect)
  • Ihr werdet seinen Freund bald kennen. = You all will soon be familiar with his friend. (simple future)

Tips for when to use wissen

a woman teaching another woman how to make pottery

Wissen (to know) is your verb of choice when you want to show factual knowledge of information. This knowledge is usually a result of studying or education, rather than your personal experience with the topic. For example, maybe you can tell your grandma who’s baking a Schwarzwaelder Kirschtorte (black forest cake) that you weiß (know) how many eggs to put in the recipe because of your time in culinary school.

Since wissen refers to concepts or introduces a clause, you won’t find a noun around it other than the subject with which it has to agree. For example, in the sentence Ich weiß, dass er krank ist (I know that he is sick), the word weiß (know) introduces the dependent clause dass er krank ist. This, combined with the absence of any direct objects, makes wissen the correct verb choice for this context.

Wissen conjugation with practical examples

Despite their differences in meaning, the conjugation of wissen (to know) requires the same process as the conjugation of kennen (to be familiar with). You simply have to know the subject of the sentence and what German tense it’s in.

If you’re new to the German alphabet, you might be confused by the symbol at the end of some conjugations of wissen. Don’t worry, ß is simply a German letter that represents two s’s making a sharper “sss” sound. It’s used in wissen to replace the two s’s that would normally end the word.

See the table below to learn the conjugations of wissen across the most common tenses you’ll use.

German Pronoun Present Tense Simple Past Tense Present Perfect Simple Future
ich
I
weiß wusste habe gewusst werde wissen
du
you, informal
weißt wusstest hast gewusst wirst wissen
er/sie/es 
he/she/it
weiß wusste hat gewusst wird wissen
wir
we
wissen wussten haben gewusst werden wissen
ihr 
you, informal plural
wisst wusstet habt gewusst werdet wissen
sie/Sie 
they, informal/you, formal
wissen wussten haben gewusst werden wissen

Now see how wissen can be used in practical German sentences:

  • Sie wissen viel über Geschichte. = They know a lot about history. (present tense)
  • Er wusste die Antwort sofort. = He knew the answer immediately (simple past)
  • Wir haben es die ganze Zeit gewusst. = We have known the answer the whole time. (present perfect)
  • Du wirst wissen, was zu tun ist. = You will know what to do. (simple future)

Deciding when to use modal verbs with kennen vs. wissen

When you decide to spice your sentence up with modal verbs in German when you use kennen vs. wissen, you don’t have to worry about conjugating. This is because both verbs will always appear in their infinitive spelling when paired with modal verbs, meaning they show up as kennen and wissen rather than any other conjugation.

Here are some sentence examples showing infinitive spelling in German sentences with modal verbs:

  • Darf ich den Autor schon kennen? = May I know the author already?
  • Er kann sie nicht kennen. = He cannot know her.
  • Wir müssen das wissen. = We must know that.
  • Du solltest wissen, wie das funktioniert. = You should know how this works.

Generally, kennen (to be familiar with) pairs best with different modal verbs than wissen (to know) does. Kennen fits best with wollen (to want) and dürfen (to be allowed, may) to express intention or permission regarding familiarity. Meanwhile, you’ll typically find wissen in sentences with sollen (should) and müssen (must), though any modal verb can be used with either verb given enough creativity.

Frequently asked questions about using kennen vs. wissen

It’s easy to mix up wissen vs. kennen as an English speaker, so you might be looking for a little more advice. Here are answers to the three most frequently asked questions about the use of kennen vs. wissen in German:

Is kennenlernen the same as kennen?

Kennenlernen (to get to know) is a separable verb in German that uses kennen (to be familiar with) as a prefix. Much like how you’d use kennen to express that you’ve personally met someone, for example, kennenlernen is a verb you use when you’re getting to know someone or something personally. Imagine learning more about a potential love interest during a date—that’s kennenlernen.

Is there a difference between Ich weiß das and Ich weiß es?

Yes, there is a subtle difference between saying Ich weiß das (I know that) and Ich weiß es (I know it). If you are referring to a known object or answer, then you would say Ich weiß es. For example, if your friend asked if you knew the answer to a quiz question, you could respond with Ich weiß es since you know a specific answer that was mentioned.

On the other hand, Ich weiß das is used to reference an entire idea or statement. So, when your aunt tells you she has a birthday coming up next week, you can show that you already knew this idea to be true with Ich weiß das.

What’s the difference between Kenntnisse vs. Wissen on a résumé?

On a résumé, you can think of Kenntnisse to mean “working knowledge,” while Wissen refers to “theoretical/academic knowledge.” In this way, the noun Kenntnisse is similar to the verb kennen (to be familiar with) in that they both relate to things learned from direct experience. 

Meanwhile, the capitalized noun Wissen reflects the use of the verb wissen (to know) in that it shows what factual or theoretical information you have handy from studying or education. Kenntnisse is most often seen in headings on a résumé or CV, while Wissen typically appears in description sections.

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