really dumb question

[PreDental88]

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I can't seem to find any information on this, and I don't have my general chemistry textbook to consult, but here's my question:

How do you determine which is the conjugate acid/base pair in a given reaction? Do you need to know which direction the reaction goes in order to answer the question?

Sorry, I know, really dumb question, but I've searched youtube, khan academy, wiki etc etc and can't seem to understand how to identify the conjugate acid/base pairs. Further insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[casper22]

Just add and delete a proton (H+)

Suppose for HNO3, the the conjugate base will be NO3-

and for NO3-, the conjugated acid will be HNO3.

I hope this helps..