Skilled, able, acquainted: saber, poder, conocer and se me da bien
English folds 'I can' and 'I know how' into one verb; Spanish splits them, and the choice is not stylistic. Saber — trained, in the repertoire: sé conducir, sé nadar, sé tocar la guitarra. Poder — able at the moment, circumstances permit: hoy no puedo conducir, he bebido. The phrase no puedo nadar means 'I can't today', while no sé nadar — 'I never learned'. For example: “Sé conducir, pero hoy no puedo: no tengo el…
How it works
English folds 'I can' and 'I know how' into one verb; Spanish splits them, and the choice is not stylistic. Saber — trained, in the repertoire: sé conducir, sé nadar, sé tocar la guitarra. Poder — able at the moment, circumstances permit: hoy no puedo conducir, he bebido. The phrase no puedo nadar means 'I can't today', while no sé nadar — 'I never learned'.
A third verb stands nearby — conocer. It is about acquaintance: with a person, a city, a book. Conozco Madrid, conozco a su hermana. Saber is about facts and skills: sé dónde vive, sé la respuesta. Saying conozco la respuesta is possible, but it already sounds like 'I am acquainted with the answer', and sé a tu hermana is impossible outright.
The third way to say 'I am good at' is the most Spanish and the most frequent in speech: se me da bien. Word-for-word 'it gives itself to me well', and it is built like gustar: the subject is the skill, and the person retreats into a pronoun. Se me dan bien los idiomas — plural, because there are several languages. The opposite is se me da mal. The modest version is me defiendo — I get by.
The flip side is difficulty: me cuesta, the same verb as 'to cost'. Me cuesta la pronunciación, me cuesta levantarme temprano. It also agrees with the thing: me cuestan los verbos irregulares.
And two turns about the progress of learning. Llevar plus the gerund says how long it has been going on: llevo dos años estudiando español. Acabar de plus the infinitive — 'just': acabo de empezar. Both stand in the present tense, where English reaches for the perfect ('I have been studying…').
Table
| meaning | verb | example | subject |
|---|---|---|---|
| skilled, trained | saber | sé nadar | I |
| able right now | poder | hoy no puedo | I |
| acquainted with | conocer | conozco Madrid | I |
| know a fact | saber | sé dónde vive | I |
| comes easily to me | se me da bien | se me dan bien los idiomas | the languages |
| I find hard | me cuesta | me cuestan los verbos | the verbs |
| how long so far | llevar + gerund | llevo dos años estudiando | I |
By example
- Sé conducir, pero hoy no puedo: no tengo el carné aquíI can drive, but not today: I do not have my licence with me
- A mi hermana se le dan muy bien los idiomas, a mí me cuestanLanguages come very easily to my sister; I struggle with them
- Llevo seis meses estudiando y acabo de aprobar el B1I have been studying for six months and have just passed the B1
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Saber vs conocer?
English folds 'I can' and 'I know how' into one verb; Spanish splits them, and the choice is not stylistic. Saber — trained, in the repertoire: sé conducir, sé nadar, sé tocar la guitarra. Poder — able at the moment, circumstances permit: hoy no puedo conducir, he bebido. The phrase no puedo nadar…
No sé nadar or no puedo nadar?
A third verb stands nearby — conocer. It is about acquaintance: with a person, a city, a book. Conozco Madrid, conozco a su hermana. Saber is about facts and skills: sé dónde vive, sé la respuesta. Saying conozco la respuesta is possible, but it already sounds like 'I am acquainted with the…
What se me da bien means?
The third way to say 'I am good at' is the most Spanish and the most frequent in speech: se me da bien. Word-for-word 'it gives itself to me well', and it is built like gustar: the subject is the skill, and the person retreats into a pronoun. Se me dan bien los idiomas — plural, because there are…
Saber or poder?
The flip side is difficulty: me cuesta, the same verb as 'to cost'. Me cuesta la pronunciación, me cuesta levantarme temprano. It also agrees with the thing: me cuestan los verbos irregulares.
How to say it comes easily to me in Spanish?
And two turns about the progress of learning. Llevar plus the gerund says how long it has been going on: llevo dos años estudiando español. Acabar de plus the infinitive — 'just': acabo de empezar. Both stand in the present tense, where English reaches for the perfect ('I have been studying…').
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“Sé conducir, pero hoy no puedo: no tengo el carné aquí” — I can drive, but not today: I do not have my licence with me. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.