# savoir
## French
### Alternative forms

* sçavoir (ca. 15th–18th c.)
* sçapvoir (ca. 1500s–1740, literary, very rare)

### Etymology

Inherited from Old French savoir/eir, from Vulgar Latin *sapēre, from Latin sapĕre.
The now-obsolete spelling sçavoir owes its ⟨ç⟩ to the Latin scīre (“to know”), which was long assumed to be the etymon of the French verb.
The 1SG present indicative sais comes from Old French sai < Vulgar Latin */ˈsajo/ ≠ Classical Latin sapiō. The inflections with ⟨ch⟩ reflect regular palatalization of an original [pj], as in sache < Old French sacheṭ < */ˈsa(p)t͡ʃat/ < */ˈsapjat/ < Classical Latin sapiat (cf. French seiche < Latin sēpia). The past participle su comes from Old French seü < */saˈ(β)udo/ < Vulgar Latin */saˈputu/, most likely influenced by Latin perfect verb forms such as sapuī.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sa.vwaʁ/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -waʁ

### Verb

savoir
* to know (something)
    Savais-tu qu’il parle si bien l’anglais?Did you know that he speaks English so well?
    Comment savait-il que j’étais là?How did he know that I was there?
    Il est difficile de savoir si elle ment.It's difficult to know if she's lying.
    Il tire cette approche en inventant une situation initiale, dans laquelle on interrogerait les individus sur la forme qu’ils voudraient d’une société sans qu’ils sachent quelle place ils y auraient.He derives this approach by inventing an initial situation, in which individuals would be questioned about the form they would like from a society without them knowing what place they would have in it.
    Difficile à savoir (expression; compare Difficile à dire, voir, faire)
* to know how (to do something)
    Savez-vous nager?Do you know how to swim?
* to be able to, to be apt to (especially in the negative or interrogative conditional; used in the positive in Belgium)
** 2021, Zaz, Tout là-haut:Si on s’en allait tout là-haut pour mieux s’imprégner des couleurs, saurions-nous faire taire notre égo ?If we went up there to better soak up the colours, would we be able to silence our ego?
    Il ne saurait tarder que...It cannot/will not be long before...
** «Il ne saurait être considéré comme un acte de résistance puisque le Hamas a cessé la résistance dans la bande de Gaza», a poursuivi M. Abbas."It cannot be considered an act of resistance, as Hamas has ceased the resistance in the Gaza strip", continued Mr. Abbas.(Le Devoir, 3 September 2010)
* to find out
    Nous devons savoir pourquoi il a fait ça.We have to find out why he did this.

#### Usage notes

* To translate "know" in the sense "to be acquainted with", the verb connaître is used.

#### Synonyms

* (to know): connaître, connaitre
* (to know how to): pouvoir

#### Derived terms

* à ce que je sache
* à ne savoir qu’en faire
* à savoir
* allez savoir
* au vu et au su de
* faire savoir
* je ne sais pas
* je ne sais quoi
* ne pas être sans savoir
* ne pas savoir à quel saint se vouer
* ne pas savoir sur quel pied danser
* ne plus savoir où donner de la tête
* on ne sait jamais
* on ne saurait faire boire un âne qui n’a pas soif
* pour autant que je sache
* que je sache
* qui sait
* sait-on jamais
* savant
* savoir gré
* savoir y faire
* savoir-faire
* savoir-vivre
* tout vient à point à qui sait attendre
* va savoir
* va savoir pourquoi
* vous savez

#### Descendants

* Saint Dominican Creole French: savé

### Noun

savoir m (plural savoirs)
* knowledge
    Synonym: connaissance f

### Further reading

* “savoir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Anagrams

* avoirs

## Old French
### Alternative forms

* saveir (archaic or northern)
* savier (La Vie de Saint Léger, ca. 980)

### Etymology

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

### Verb

savoir
* to know
** c. 1180,, Chrétien de Troyes, Lancelot ou le Chevalier de la charrette:Mes qui l’apele il ne le sot : Fantosme cuide que ce soit.But he did not know who was calling him He thought that it was a ghost
** c. 1155, Wace, Le Roman de Brut:Et mult sot de chiens et d'oisiaxAnd he knew much about dogs and about birds
* to be skilled in
    molt bien savoit le latinhe was very skilled in Latin

#### Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has a stressed present stem sev distinct from the unstressed stem sav, as well as other irregularities. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

### Noun

savoir oblique singular, m (oblique plural savoirs, nominative singular savoirs, nominative plural savoir)
* knowledge
* wisdom

#### Descendants

* Angevin: sçavouèr
* Bourbonnais-Berrichon: savoér
* Bourguignon: saivoi
* Champenois: saouâr
* Franc-Comtois: saivoi
* Gallo: savair
* Lorrain: sahoir
* Middle French: sçavoir
** French: savoir
* Norman: saveî, saver
* Picard: savoèr
* Poitevin-Saintongeais: saver
* Walloon: saveur