How to conjugate Comenzar in Spanish
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Indicative tenses of Comenzar
- Comenzar in the Indicative Present
- Comenzar in the Indicative Preterite
- Comenzar in the Indicative Imperfect
- Comenzar in the Indicative Future
- Comenzar in the Indicative Conditional
- Comenzar in the Indicative Present Perfect
- Comenzar in the Indicative Past Perfect
- Comenzar in the Indicative Future Perfect
- Comenzar in the Indicative Conditional Perfect
- Subjunctive tenses of Comenzar
- Comenzar in the Subjunctive Present
- Comenzar in the Subjunctive Imperfect
- Comenzar in the Subjunctive Future
- Comenzar in the Subjunctive Present Perfect
- Comenzar in the Subjunctive Past Perfect
- Comenzar in the Subjunctive Future Perfect
- Imperative tenses of Comenzar
- Comenzar in the Imperative Affirmative
- Comenzar in the Imperative Negative
- Example sentences and usage
Introduction
Comenzar is the Spanish verb for to start, to commence, to begin. It is an irregular verb. Read on below to see how it is conjugated in the 16 major Spanish tenses!
| Spanish | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | comenzar | to start, to commence, to begin |
| Past participle | comenzado | started |
| Gerund | comenzando | starting |
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Indicative Tenses of Comenzar
Comenzar in the Indicative Present
The Indicative Present of comenzar is used to talk about situations, events or thoughts that are happening now or in the near future. It is also used to talk about facts and truths. For example, "comienzo el día con el desayuno", meaning "I start the day with breakfast".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | comienzo | I start |
| Tú | comienzas | you start |
| Ella / Él / Usted | comienza | s/he start, you (formal) start |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | comenzamos | we start |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | comenzáis | you (plural) start |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | comienzan | they start, you (plural formal) start |
Comenzar in the Indicative Preterite
The Indicative Preterite of comenzar is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, "comencé el día con el desayuno", meaning "I started the day with breakfast".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | comencé | I started |
| Tú | comenzaste | you started |
| Ella / Él / Usted | comenzó | s/he started, you (formal) started |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | comenzamos | we started |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | comenzasteis | you (plural) started |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | comenzaron | they started, you (plural formal) started |
Comenzar in the Indicative Imperfect
The Indicative Imperfect of comenzar is used to describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do. For example, "comenzaba el día con el desayuno", meaning "I used to start the day with breakfast".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | comenzaba | I used to start |
| Tú | comenzabas | you used to start |
| Ella / Él / Usted | comenzaba | s/he used to start, you (formal) used to start |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | comenzábamos | we used to start |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | comenzabais | you (plural) used to start |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | comenzaban | they used to start, you (plural formal) used to start |
Comenzar in the Indicative Future
The Indicative Future of comenzar is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, "comenzaré el día con el desayuno", meaning "I will start the day with breakfast".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | comenzaré | I will start |
| Tú | comenzarás | you will start |
| Ella / Él / Usted | comenzará | s/he will start, you (formal) will start |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | comenzaremos | we will start |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | comenzaréis | you (plural) will start |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | comenzarán | they will start, you (plural formal) will start |
Comenzar in the Indicative Conditional
The Indicative Conditional of comenzar is used to talk about something that may happen in the future, hypothesis and probabilities. For example, "comenzaría el día con el desayuno", meaning "I would start the day with breakfast".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | comenzaría | I would start |
| Tú | comenzarías | you would start |
| Ella / Él / Usted | comenzaría | s/he would start, you (formal) would start |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | comenzaríamos | we would start |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | comenzaríais | you (plural) would start |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | comenzarían | they would start, you (plural formal) would start |
Comenzar in the Indicative Present Perfect
The Indicative Present Perfect of comenzar is used to describe actions that started recently (in the past) and are still happening now or things that have been done recently. For example, "he comenzado el día con el desayuno", meaning "I have started the day with breakfast".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he comenzado | I have started |
| Tú | has comenzado | you have started |
| Ella / Él / Usted | ha comenzado | s/he has started, you (formal) have started |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hemos comenzado | we have started |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habéis comenzado | you (plural) have started |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | han comenzado | they have started, you (plural formal) have started |
Comenzar in the Indicative Past Perfect
The Indicative Past Perfect of comenzar is used to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. For example, "había comenzado el día con el desayuno", meaning "I had started the day with breakfast".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | había comenzado | I had started |
| Tú | habías comenzado | you had started |
| Ella / Él / Usted | había comenzado | s/he had started, you (formal) had started |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habíamos comenzado | we had started |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habíais comenzado | you (plural) had started |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habían comenzado | they had started, you (plural formal) had started |
Comenzar in the Indicative Future Perfect
The Indicative Future Perfect of comenzar is used to talk about something that will have happened in the future after something else has already happened. For example, "habré comenzado el día con el desayuno", meaning "I will have started the day with breakfast".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habré comenzado | I will have started |
| Tú | habrás comenzado | you will have started |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habrá comenzado | s/he will have started, you (formal) will have started |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habremos comenzado | we will have started |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habréis comenzado | you (plural) will have started |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrán comenzado | they will have started, you (plural formal) will have started |
Comenzar in the Indicative Conditional Perfect
The Indicative Conditional Perfect of comenzar is used to talk about something that would have happened in the future but didn’t due to another action. For example, "habría comenzado el día con el desayuno", meaning "I would have started the day with breakfast".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habría comenzado | I would have started |
| Tú | habrías comenzado | you would have started |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habría comenzado | s/he would have started, you (formal) would have started |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habríamos comenzado | we would have started |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habríais comenzado | you (plural) would have started |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrían comenzado | they would have started, you (plural formal) would have started |
Want a better way to learn conjugations?
Ella Verbs guides you through 30 levels of bite sized lessons and verb drills, helping you to master the 16 main Spanish tenses from our verb library of over 1,000 verbs.
Subjunctive Tenses of Comenzar
Comenzar in the Subjunctive Present
The Subjunctive Present is used to talk about situations of uncertainty, or emotions such as wishes, desires and hopes. It differs from the indicative mood due to the uncertainty of the events which are being spoken about. For example, "comience", meaning "I start".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | comience | I start |
| Tú | comiences | you start |
| Ella / Él / Usted | comience | s/he start, you (formal) start |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | comencemos | we start |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | comencéis | you (plural) start |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | comiencen | they start, you (plural formal) start |
Comenzar in the Subjunctive Imperfect
The Subjunctive Imperfect is used to speak about unlikely or uncertain events in the past or to cast an opinion (emotional) about something that happened in the past. For example, "comenzara", meaning "I started".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | comenzara | I started |
| Tú | comenzaras | you started |
| Ella / Él / Usted | comenzara | s/he started, you (formal) started |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | comenzáramos | we started |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | comenzarais | you (plural) started |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | comenzaran | they started, you (plural formal) started |
Comenzar in the Subjunctive Future
The Subjunctive Future is used For example, "comenzare", meaning "I will start".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | comenzare | I will start |
| Tú | comenzares | you will start |
| Ella / Él / Usted | comenzare | s/he will start, you (formal) will start |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | comenzáremos | we will start |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | comenzareis | you (plural) will start |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | comenzaren | they will start, you (plural formal) will start |
Comenzar in the Subjunctive Present Perfect
The Subjunctive Present Perfect is used to describe past actions or events that are still connected to the present day and to speak about an action that will have happened by a certain time in the future. For example, "haya comenzado", meaning "I have started".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | haya comenzado | I have started |
| Tú | hayas comenzado | you have started |
| Ella / Él / Usted | haya comenzado | s/he has started, you (formal) have started |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hayamos comenzado | we have started |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hayáis comenzado | you (plural) have started |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hayan comenzado | they have started, you (plural formal) have started |
Comenzar in the Subjunctive Past Perfect
The Subjunctive Past Perfect is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that occurred before other actions/events in the past. For example, "hubiera comenzado", meaning "I had started".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera comenzado | I had started |
| Tú | hubieras comenzado | you had started |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiera comenzado | s/he had started, you (formal) had started |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéramos comenzado | we had started |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubierais comenzado | you (plural) had started |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieran comenzado | they had started, you (plural formal) had started |
Comenzar in the Subjunctive Future Perfect
The Subjunctive Future Perfect is used For example, "hubiere comenzado", meaning "I will have started".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere comenzado | I will have started |
| Tú | hubieres comenzado | you will have started |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiere comenzado | s/he will have started, you (formal) will have started |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéremos comenzado | we will have started |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubiereis comenzado | you (plural) will have started |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieren comenzado | they will have started, you (plural formal) will have started |
Imperative Tenses of Comenzar
Comenzar in the Imperative Affirmative
The Imperative Affirmative is used to give orders and commands, to tell someone to do something. For example, "comience", meaning "(to you formal) start!".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | comienza | (to you) start! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | comience | (to you formal) start! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | comencemos | (to we) start! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | comenzad | (to you plural) start! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | comiencen | (to you plural formal) start! |
Comenzar in the Imperative Negative
The Imperative Negative is used to give orders and commands, telling someone not to do something. For example, "no comience", meaning "(to you formal) don't start!".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | no comiences | (to you) don't start! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | no comience | (to you formal) don't start! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | no comencemos | (to we) don't start! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | no comencéis | (to you plural) don't start! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | no comiencen | (to you plural formal) don't start! |
Example sentences and usage
- La ceremonia comenzó con su discurso. The ceremony began with his speech.
- Las vacaciones de verano comienzan el próximo lunes. Summer vacation begins next Monday.
- La vida comienza cuando uno paga impuestos. Life begins when you pay taxes.
- ¿Crees que comenzará la guerra? Do you believe war will start?
- Sería mejor que comenzaras. You'd better start now.
- ¿Cuándo comenzaste a estudiar inglés? When did you begin studying English?
- De repente comenzó a llover. Suddenly rain began to fall.
- La ceremonia comenzó con su discurso. The ceremony began with his speech.
Want to explore other verb conjugations?
Why not check out comprender – to comprehend, to understand or see the complete list of verbs here.
Back to topWant a better way to learn conjugations?
Ella Verbs guides you through 30 levels of bite sized lessons and verb drills, helping you to master the 16 main Spanish tenses from our verb library of over 1,000 verbs.
