¿lo sabías?
In Spanish, "did you know?" is translated as ¿lo sabías?
The phrase is used to ask if someone already possessed a specific piece of information.
What does it mean word for word?
In the phrase lo sabías, the word lo functions as the direct object meaning "it" and sabías is the imperfect tense of the verb saber, which means "to know".
Which one should you use?
The phrase ¿lo sabías? uses the imperfect tense to imply a state of knowledge that existed prior to the current moment. In contrast, using the preterite form ¿lo supiste? would imply a specific moment of finding out.
Did you know?
- The verb saber is also used in Spanish to describe the flavor or taste of something, meaning 'to taste like'.
- While ¿lo sabías? asks if you were aware of a fact, Spanish uses a different verb conocer to ask if you know a person or a place.
- In a formal setting or when addressing a stranger, you must change the phrase to ¿lo sabía? to avoid being overly familiar.
Examples in context
- ¿Sabías que los elefantes son los mamíferos terrestres más grandes del mundo?Did you know that elephants are the largest land mammals in the world?
- ¿Tenías conocimiento de que el español es el segundo idioma más hablado del mundo?Did you know that Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world?
- Oye, ¿te enteraste de que van a abrir un nuevo restaurante en el vecindario?Hey, did you find out that they're opening a new restaurant in the neighborhood?
- No sé si sabías, pero el Titanic fue el barco más grande construido en su época.I'm not sure if you knew, but the Titanic was the largest ship built at its time.
- ¿Lo sabías?Did you know it?
- Es una noticia increíble, ¿lo sabías?It is incredible news, did you know it?
Example conversation
Javier and Sofía are talking about a coworker.
- JavierSofía, el jefe renuncia el lunes, ¿lo sabías?Sofía, the boss is quitting on Monday, did you know?
- SofíaNo, no tenía idea.No, I had no idea.
- JavierParece que todo el mundo lo sabe.It seems like everyone knows.
- SofíaGracias por decirme, Javier.Thanks for telling me, Javier.
