These days, everything around us seems to have a start date and time, therefore, it's important to add the verb empezar or, "to start," to your vocabulary. Used interchangeably with the verb comenzar, meaning "to begin," there will be no shortage of opportunities to use empezar in your everyday conversations, whether you are discussing meetings, movies or dinner.
Conjugations
In the present tense, the verb empezar is an irregular, e → ie stem-changing verb. Also in the preterite tense, make note of the small spelling change in the "yo" form, from z → c.
Present
| Yo | empiezo | Nosotros/as | empezamos |
| Tú | empiezas | Vosotros/as | empezáis |
| Él/Ella/Ud. | empieza | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | empiezan |
Example Sentence:
- El siguiente mes empiezan los juegos olímpicos. → The olympic games start next week.
Imperfect
| Yo | empezaba | Nosotros/as | empezábamos |
| Tú | empezabas | Vosotros/as | empezabais |
| Él/Ella/Ud. | empezaba | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | empezaban |
Example Sentence:
- Antes la escuela empezaba a las 8:00 am pero ahora es a las 7:30 am. → Before, school used to start at 8:00 am but now it's at 7:30 am.
Preterite
| Yo | empecé | Nosotros/as | empezamos |
| Tú | empezaste | Vosotros/as | empezasteis |
| Él/Ella/Ud. | empezó | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | empezaron |
Example Sentence:
- El concierto empezó a las 7:00 pm. → The concert started at 7:00 pm.
Future
| Yo | empezaré | Nosotros/as | empezaremos |
| Tú | empezarás | Vosotros/as | empezaréis |
| Él/Ella/Ud. | empezará | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | empezarán |
Example Sentence:
- Mañana empezaremos a mudarnos a la nueva casa. → Tomorrow we will start moving into the new house.
Conditional
| Yo | empezaría | Nosotros/as | empezaríamos |
| Tú | empezarías | Vosotros/as | empezaríais |
| Él/Ella/Ud. | empezaría | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | empezarían |
Example Sentence:
- Si pudieras, ¿empezarías tu propia empresa? → If you could, would you start your own business?
Idiomatic Expressions with Empezar
Here is a list of some of the most common expressions with the verb empezar that you can start incorporating into your daily conversation.
antes de empezar
Directly translating to "before we begin," this is a great phrase to lead into giving a presentation.
vamos a empezar
This useful phrase translates to "let's begin" in English and is another great way to start a meeting or presentation
volver a empezar
Meaning, "to start again" this term can be compared to the English expression, "let's go back to the drawing board."
Now that you have a basic understanding of the conjugations for the verb empezar and some useful expressions, you can start using it in your everyday Spanish conversations.
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By YourDictionary
These days, everything around us seems to have a start date and time, therefore, it’s important to add the verb empezar or, “to start,” to your vocabulary. Used interchangeably with the verb comenzar, meaning “to begin,” there will be no shortage of opportunities to use empezar in your everyday conversations, whether you are discussing meetings, movies or dinner.
