Empezar conjugation chart
Empezar present tense
presente · I speak
| yo | I start | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you start | |
| vos | you start | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she starts | |
| nosotros | we start | |
| vosotros | you all start | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they start |
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.”
Empezar preterite
pretérito · I spoke
| yo | I started | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you started | |
| vos | you started | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she started | |
| nosotros | we started | |
| vosotros | you all started | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they started |
Regular: same endings as hablar.
Empezar imperfect
pretérito imperfecto · I used to speak
| yo | I used to start | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you used to start | |
| vos | you used to start | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she used to start | |
| nosotros | we used to start | |
| vosotros | you all used to start | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they used to start |
Regular: same endings as hablar.
Empezar future
futuro · I will speak
| yo | I will start | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you will start | |
| vos | you will start | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she will start | |
| nosotros | we will start | |
| vosotros | you all will start | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they will start |
Regular: same endings as hablar.
Empezar conditional
condicional · I would speak
| yo | I would start | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you would start | |
| vos | you would start | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she would start | |
| nosotros | we would start | |
| vosotros | you all would start | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they would start |
Regular: same endings as hablar.
Empezar present subjunctive
presente de subjuntivo · that I speak
| yo | that I start | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | that you start | |
| vos | that you start | |
| él, ella, usted | that he/she start | |
| nosotros | that we start | |
| vosotros | that you all start | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | that they start |
Irregular in yo, tú, él/ella/usted and ellos/ustedes (in red): empiece, empieces…; the other forms are regular.
Empezar imperfect subjunctive
imperfecto de subjuntivo · if I spoke
| yo | if I started | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | if you started | |
| vos | if you started | |
| él, ella, usted | if he/she started | |
| nosotros | if we started | |
| vosotros | if you all started | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | if they started |
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 (empezase), more common in writing.
Empezar affirmative commands
imperativo · speak!
| tú | start! | |
|---|---|---|
| vos | start! | |
| usted | start! | |
| nosotros | let's start! | |
| vosotros | start! | |
| ustedes | start! |
The tú form is the él form of the present: empieza. Usted, nosotros and ustedes come from the present subjunctive (empiece, empecemos, empiecen).
Empezar negative commands
imperativo negativo · don't speak!
| tú | don't start! | |
|---|---|---|
| vos | don't start! | |
| usted | don't start! | |
| nosotros | let's not start! | |
| vosotros | don't start! | |
| ustedes | don't start! |
Built from the present subjunctive: no + empieces, empiece…
Always the verb haber + the past participle empezado, which never changes.
Empezar present perfect
pretérito perfecto · I have spoken
| yo | he empezado |
|---|---|
| tú | has empezado |
| vos | has empezado |
| él, ella, usted | ha empezado |
| nosotros | hemos empezado |
| vosotros | habéis empezado |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | han empezado |
Empezar pluperfect
pluscuamperfecto · I had spoken
| yo | había empezado |
|---|---|
| tú | habías empezado |
| vos | habías empezado |
| él, ella, usted | había empezado |
| nosotros | habíamos empezado |
| vosotros | habíais empezado |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habían empezado |
Empezar future perfect
futuro perfecto · I will have spoken
| yo | habré empezado |
|---|---|
| tú | habrás empezado |
| vos | habrás empezado |
| él, ella, usted | habrá empezado |
| nosotros | habremos empezado |
| vosotros | habréis empezado |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habrán empezado |
Empezar conditional perfect
condicional perfecto · I would have spoken
| yo | habría empezado |
|---|---|
| tú | habrías empezado |
| vos | habrías empezado |
| él, ella, usted | habría empezado |
| nosotros | habríamos empezado |
| vosotros | habríais empezado |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habrían empezado |
Empezar present perfect subjunctive
pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo · that I have spoken
| yo | haya empezado |
|---|---|
| tú | hayas empezado |
| vos | hayas empezado |
| él, ella, usted | haya empezado |
| nosotros | hayamos empezado |
| vosotros | hayáis empezado |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | hayan empezado |
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
The yo preterite is spelled empecé, with a c, because z doesn't go before e. And you need a before the infinitive: empecé a estudiar español.
Examples with empezar
La clase empieza a las nueve.
Class starts at nine.
Empecé a estudiar español este año.
I started studying Spanish this year.
¿Cuándo empiezas el trabajo nuevo?
When do you start the new job?
Practice empezar
Half of these are in the present subjunctive, the tense people look up most for empezar. Type the right form and press Enter. A missing accent still counts, but I'll point it out.
With full sentences: subjunctive exercises.
Verbs like empezar
Stem change e → ie (empezar → empiezas). Same pattern:
tener tienesquerer quieresvenir vienespensar piensascomenzar comienzascerrar cierrasentender entiendesperder pierdes