{"id":948,"date":"2010-09-07T13:19:33","date_gmt":"2010-09-07T13:19:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=948"},"modified":"2010-09-07T13:19:33","modified_gmt":"2010-09-07T13:19:33","slug":"do-you-know-wissen-and-kennen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/do-you-know-wissen-and-kennen\/","title":{"rendered":"Do you know “wissen” and “kennen”?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I communicate with people who learn German as a foreign language I can often recognize that they have some difficulties with using the German verbs \u201ckennen\u201d and \u201cwissen\u201d correctly. Unfortunately, these two verbs have only one translation in English, which is \u201cto know\u201d. Although \u201cwissen\u201d suggest the meaning of having a firm knowledge<\/em> and \u201ckennen\u201d rather means that you are only familiar<\/em> or acquainted<\/em> with something, both verbs do basically express the same idea. Which of these two verb you have to use does not only depend on its meaning but also on the sentence construction you will use.<\/p>\n

In this post I would like to explain when and how to use one or the other verb. Let\u2019s find out about that by asking ourselves \u201cdo we know\u201d?<\/p>\n

WISSEN<\/strong><\/p>\n

In German we use the verb \u201cwissen\u201d when we want to find out about a particular event<\/em><\/strong> or state<\/em><\/strong>. That is, when we ask, e.g \u201cwei\u00dft du\u201d (do you know) the following word has to be either an interrogative<\/strong><\/span><\/span> (question word) or a conjunction<\/strong><\/span><\/span>, e.g.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Interrogative\/question word<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/td>\nConjunction<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
wann – when<\/p>\n

wo – where<\/td>\n

wer – who<\/p>\n

was – what<\/td>\n

wie – how<\/td>\n<\/td>\nob \u2013 if<\/p>\n

dass – that<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Here are some example sentences. I also give the possible answers to these question so that you can recognize how to use \u201cwissen\u201d in your responses:<\/p>\n

Wei\u00dft du wann<\/span><\/strong> der Zug abf\u00e4hrt? \u2013 Do you know when<\/span><\/strong> the train is leaving?\u00a0(Ja, ich wei\u00df wann<\/strong> der Zug abf\u00e4hrt.)<\/p>\n

Wei\u00df sie wo<\/span><\/strong> ich wohne? \u2013 Does she know where<\/span><\/strong> I live?\u00a0(Ja, sie wei\u00df wo<\/strong> du wohnst.)<\/p>\n

Wei\u00df du wer<\/span><\/strong> das Buch geschrieben hat? \u2013 Do you know who<\/span><\/strong> wrote the book?\u00a0(Ja, ich wei\u00df wer<\/strong> das Buch geschrieben hat.)<\/p>\n

Wei\u00df du was<\/span><\/strong> das hei\u00dfen soll? \u2013 Do you know what<\/span><\/strong> this should mean?\u00a0(Ja, ich wei\u00df was<\/strong> das hei\u00dfen soll.)<\/p>\n

Wei\u00dft du wie<\/span><\/strong> sp\u00e4t es ist?\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Do you know \u201chow<\/span><\/strong> late it is\u201d (what time it is)?\u00a0(Ja, ich wei\u00df wie<\/strong> sp\u00e4t es ist.)<\/p>\n

Wissen sie ob<\/span><\/strong> er zur Party kommt? \u2013 Do they know if<\/span><\/strong> he is coming to the party? (Ja, sie wissen ob<\/strong> er zur Party kommt.)<\/p>\n

Wei\u00df er, dass<\/span><\/strong> sie geheiratet haben? \u2013 Does he know that<\/span><\/strong> they got married?\u00a0(Ja, er wei\u00df, dass<\/strong> sie geheiratet haben.)<\/p>\n

In this type of sentences you cannot use the verb \u201ckennen\u201d. You can neither ask \u201cKennst du wann\/wo\/wer\/wie\/etc. …?” nor can you answer with \u201cJa, ich kenne wann\/wo\/wer\/wie\/etc. …\u201d<\/p>\n

KENNEN<\/strong><\/p>\n

In German we use the verb \u201ckennen\u201d when we ask or talk about a specific thing<\/em><\/strong> or person<\/em><\/strong>. That is, when we ask, e.g. \u201cKennst du\u201d (do you know) the following word has to be a noun<\/strong><\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Here are some example sentences:<\/p>\n

Kennst du das Buch<\/span><\/strong> von \u2026.? \u2013 Do you know the book<\/span><\/strong> by \u2026.?\u00a0(Ja, ich kenne das Buch<\/strong> von \u2026.)<\/p>\n

Kennst du ihn<\/span><\/strong>? \u2013 Do you know him<\/span><\/strong>?\u00a0(Ja, ich kenne ihn<\/strong>.)<\/p>\n

Kennt er sie<\/span><\/strong>? \u2013 Does he know her<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0(Ja, er kennt sie<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

Kennt Martin Sabine<\/strong><\/span>? \u2013 Does Martin know Sabine<\/strong><\/span>?\u00a0(Ja, Martin kennt Sabine<\/strong>.)<\/p>\n

In this type of sentence you cannot use the verb \u201cwissen\u201d. You can neither ask \u201cWei\u00dft du das Buch\/ihn\/sie?\u201d nor can you answer \u201cJa, ich wei\u00df das Buch\/ihn\/sie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, I want to mention that it is sometimes also possible to substitute \u201ckennen\u201d with \u201cwissen\u201d, e.g. instead of \u201cKennst du meinen Namen\u201d you can also ask \u201cWei\u00dft du meinen Namen\u201d (Do you know my name?). Nevertheless, my explanation represents a very reliable basic rule.\u00a0So whenever you are pondering if you can opt for \u201cwissen\u201d when asking about a thing<\/strong><\/em> or person<\/strong><\/em> you will always be safe with \u201ckennen\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I communicate with people who learn German as a foreign language I can often recognize that they have some difficulties with using the German verbs \u201ckennen\u201d and \u201cwissen\u201d correctly. Unfortunately, these two verbs have only one translation in English, which is \u201cto know\u201d. Although \u201cwissen\u201d suggest the meaning of having a firm knowledge and…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[11191,11193,11192],"class_list":["post-948","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-language","tag-german-to-know","tag-kennen","tag-wissen"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=948"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":985,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948\/revisions\/985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}