Comenzar conjugation chart
Comenzar present tense
presente · I speak
| yo | I begin | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you begin | |
| vos | you begin | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she begins | |
| nosotros | we begin | |
| vosotros | you all begin | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they begin |
The highlighted forms change their stem. Notice that nosotros, vosotros and vos stay out: draw a line around the forms that change and you get a boot, which is why these are called “boot verbs.”
Comenzar preterite
pretérito · I spoke
| yo | I began | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you began | |
| vos | you began | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she began | |
| nosotros | we began | |
| vosotros | you all began | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they began |
Regular: same endings as hablar.
Comenzar imperfect
pretérito imperfecto · I used to speak
| yo | I used to begin | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you used to begin | |
| vos | you used to begin | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she used to begin | |
| nosotros | we used to begin | |
| vosotros | you all used to begin | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they used to begin |
Regular: same endings as hablar.
Comenzar future
futuro · I will speak
| yo | I will begin | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you will begin | |
| vos | you will begin | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she will begin | |
| nosotros | we will begin | |
| vosotros | you all will begin | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they will begin |
Regular: same endings as hablar.
Comenzar conditional
condicional · I would speak
| yo | I would begin | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you would begin | |
| vos | you would begin | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she would begin | |
| nosotros | we would begin | |
| vosotros | you all would begin | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they would begin |
Regular: same endings as hablar.
Comenzar present subjunctive
presente de subjuntivo · that I speak
| yo | that I begin | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | that you begin | |
| vos | that you begin | |
| él, ella, usted | that he/she begin | |
| nosotros | that we begin | |
| vosotros | that you all begin | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | that they begin |
Irregular in yo, tú, él/ella/usted and ellos/ustedes (in red): comience, comiences…; the other forms are regular.
Comenzar imperfect subjunctive
imperfecto de subjuntivo · if I spoke
| yo | if I began | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | if you began | |
| vos | if you began | |
| él, ella, usted | if he/she began | |
| nosotros | if we began | |
| vosotros | if you all began | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | if they began |
Regular: same endings as hablar.
In the subjunctive, vos takes the same form as tú in careful speech. The imperfect subjunctive also has an -se form (comenzase), more common in writing.
Comenzar affirmative commands
imperativo · speak!
| tú | begin! | |
|---|---|---|
| vos | begin! | |
| usted | begin! | |
| nosotros | let's begin! | |
| vosotros | begin! | |
| ustedes | begin! |
The tú form is the él form of the present: comienza. Usted, nosotros and ustedes come from the present subjunctive (comience, comencemos, comiencen).
Comenzar negative commands
imperativo negativo · don't speak!
| tú | don't begin! | |
|---|---|---|
| vos | don't begin! | |
| usted | don't begin! | |
| nosotros | let's not begin! | |
| vosotros | don't begin! | |
| ustedes | don't begin! |
Built from the present subjunctive: no + comiences, comience…
Always the verb haber + the past participle comenzado, which never changes.
Comenzar present perfect
pretérito perfecto · I have spoken
| yo | he comenzado |
|---|---|
| tú | has comenzado |
| vos | has comenzado |
| él, ella, usted | ha comenzado |
| nosotros | hemos comenzado |
| vosotros | habéis comenzado |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | han comenzado |
Comenzar pluperfect
pluscuamperfecto · I had spoken
| yo | había comenzado |
|---|---|
| tú | habías comenzado |
| vos | habías comenzado |
| él, ella, usted | había comenzado |
| nosotros | habíamos comenzado |
| vosotros | habíais comenzado |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habían comenzado |
Comenzar future perfect
futuro perfecto · I will have spoken
| yo | habré comenzado |
|---|---|
| tú | habrás comenzado |
| vos | habrás comenzado |
| él, ella, usted | habrá comenzado |
| nosotros | habremos comenzado |
| vosotros | habréis comenzado |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habrán comenzado |
Comenzar conditional perfect
condicional perfecto · I would have spoken
| yo | habría comenzado |
|---|---|
| tú | habrías comenzado |
| vos | habrías comenzado |
| él, ella, usted | habría comenzado |
| nosotros | habríamos comenzado |
| vosotros | habríais comenzado |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habrían comenzado |
Comenzar present perfect subjunctive
pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo · that I have spoken
| yo | haya comenzado |
|---|---|
| tú | hayas comenzado |
| vos | hayas comenzado |
| él, ella, usted | haya comenzado |
| nosotros | hayamos comenzado |
| vosotros | hayáis comenzado |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | hayan comenzado |
In Latin America, ustedes is the only “you all”; vosotros is used only in Spain. Vos is used in Argentina, Uruguay and much of Central America. Uncheck the boxes above to hide what you don’t need.
Watch out
It means the same as empezar and is conjugated the same way: comienzo, comencé. Like “commence” in English, it sounds a bit more formal.
Examples with comenzar
La película comienza en diez minutos.
The movie starts in ten minutes.
Comencé un curso nuevo.
I started a new course.
Las clases comienzan en marzo.
Classes start in March.
Practice comenzar
Type the right form and press Enter. A missing accent still counts, but I'll point it out.
Verbs like comenzar
Stem change e → ie (comenzar → comienzas). Same pattern:
tener tienesquerer quieresvenir vienespensar piensasempezar empiezascerrar cierrasentender entiendesperder pierdes