Saber vs Conocer

Ellos saben jugar a las cartas.

Conoce las reglas del juego.

I am confused in Lesson 6.8 by these two sentences. I would have used saber for both (since you had to learn the rules to play) but I could maybe see (sort of) conocer for knowing how to play but definitely would have used saber for knowing the rules since that required active study. Instead, these examples are the opposite. Any help?

Instead of translating conocer as “ to know”, instead see it as “to be familiar with”. When you are telling someone to “know the rules”, you can also say “familiarize yourself with the rules”. Whenever you can substitute familiar in your english scentence, the verb will be conocer. 

I am probably overthinking it, but the “to be familiar with” doesn't work well for me. I am familiar with how to play Risk, but I don't know all the rules well. But in Spanish that would be Saber followed by Conocer. Hopefully this interaction helps Liss (or others) try a different tact to help me understand. Thanks for the response!

I showed my native spanish speaking wife. She says its because when you say you know the “blank”, its always going to be conocer. “THE” is the deciding word here. Dont know why and neither does she. She only knows that it sounds wrong using Saber. But, she would still understand if she heard saber used in this context.

¡Hola Scott_C y Rainman!

That's great that you had the instinct to use saber “to know (something)” with the first sentence, Scott_C! Saber is always the verb of choice if you want to say “to know how to,” and that can be memorized as a set rule.

As for the question of why we use conocer “to know (someone)” in the second sentence, though, that is a bit trickier! The idea of setting out that conocer is normally used when you want to say “to know” followed by the word “the” (and a noun) is very helpful; however, we unfortunately can't say that it's always the case - after all, it sounds more natural to use saber in sentences like Sé la respuesta “(I) know the answer” or Sabe la verdad “(She) knows the truth.” But it certainly is true that conocer is followed by “the” and a noun far more often than saber is (saber is most often followed by words like si “if” or que “that,” or by verbs) - so, statistically, conocer is indeed the more likely choice. 

I would explain the logic behind using conocer with las reglas “the rules” by pointing out that conocer is the verb that you use when you're talking about things that you have personally experienced and made a connection with. And when you know the rules of a game, this means that you've developed a deep familiarity with them - you've connected with them so well that they guide your actions, often without you really thinking about it. And because you have to know them so deeply, the rules of a game are more than just plain facts or information (which would require saber).

I hope that this way of thinking of it is of some help, Scott_C! 

Saludos,

Liss

Thanks Rainman, the “the” guideine (thanks Liss) is very helpful.

As always, thanks for the detailed explanation. I really appreciate the addition of “a connection” to my understanding of conocer. As always in language, the answers are nuanced.

Also good to know (from my reading above), I will be understood if I make a mistake but I will further identify myself as a non-native speaker. I lived overseas 9 years and worked with international people 2 more years, so I know exactly what it means to be well understood but not sound native (of course, I was on the recieving end as I only speak English with proficiency). It added fun and sometimes humor to hear how a non-native speaker would say some things in English. I certainly appreciated their efforts!