The Spanish verb comenzar means "to begin". Below are its 8 tenses as tables, with the irregular forms marked, 4 example sentences and answers to 3 common questions. Press play next to a present tense form or an example to hear it.
The present tense of comenzar is yo comienzo, tú comienzas, él/ella/usted comienza, nosotros comenzamos, vosotros comenzáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes comienzan. It is irregular: 4 of its 6 present forms break the regular -ar pattern. The tables below cover 8 tenses, from the present to the present perfect. Every present form and 4 example sentences have a listen button.
Forms in orange break the regular -ar pattern.
| yo | comienzo (irregular) | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | comienzas (irregular) | |
| él/ | comienza (irregular) | |
| nosotros | comenzamos | |
| vosotros | comenzáis | |
| ellos/ | comienzan (irregular) |
| yo | comencé (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tú | comenzaste |
| él/ | comenzó |
| nosotros | comenzamos |
| vosotros | comenzasteis |
| ellos/ | comenzaron |
| yo | comenzaba |
|---|---|
| tú | comenzabas |
| él/ | comenzaba |
| nosotros | comenzábamos |
| vosotros | comenzabais |
| ellos/ | comenzaban |
| yo | comenzaré |
|---|---|
| tú | comenzarás |
| él/ | comenzará |
| nosotros | comenzaremos |
| vosotros | comenzaréis |
| ellos/ | comenzarán |
| yo | comenzaría |
|---|---|
| tú | comenzarías |
| él/ | comenzaría |
| nosotros | comenzaríamos |
| vosotros | comenzaríais |
| ellos/ | comenzarían |
| yo | comience (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tú | comiences (irregular) |
| él/ | comience (irregular) |
| nosotros | comencemos (irregular) |
| vosotros | comencéis (irregular) |
| ellos/ | comiencen (irregular) |
| tú | comienza (irregular) |
|---|---|
| usted | comience (irregular) |
| nosotros | comencemos (irregular) |
| vosotros | comenzad |
| ustedes | comiencen (irregular) |
| yo | he comenzado |
|---|---|
| tú | has comenzado |
| él/ | ha comenzado |
| nosotros | hemos comenzado |
| vosotros | habéis comenzado |
| ellos/ | han comenzado |
Comenzar is irregular. The stem changes to comienz in several present forms, and the yo preterite is comencé. The subjunctive and formal commands use c before e, as in comience and comencemos.
Lingo7 is an app for reading books in Spanish with a translation under every sentence and audio, so the forms in these tables come back in context.
Comenzar is irregular. Its present forms include comienzo, comienzas, comienza, and comienzan, unlike the regular pattern shown by hablar.
The yo preterite is comencé. The spelling changes from z to c before é.
They are comience, comiences, comience, comencemos, comencéis, and comiencen. The nosotros form is comencemos, with c before e.