comenzar Affirmative Imperative Conjugation
comenzar — to start
The imperative of comenzar uses the stem change for informal commands: comienza (tú), comience (usted), comencemos (nosotros), comenzad (vosotros), comiencen (ustedes).
comenzar Affirmative Imperative Forms
When to Use the Affirmative Imperative
Use this to give direct orders or invitations to start an activity.
Notes on comenzar in the Affirmative Imperative
The 'tú' form uses the e>ie change. The 'usted' and 'ustedes' forms use the z>c spelling change from the subjunctive.
Example Sentences
¡Comienza ahora mismo!
Start right now!
tú
Comience a leer, por favor.
Start reading, please.
usted
Comencemos la reunión.
Let's start the meeting.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using 'comenza' for the tú command.
Correct: comienza
Why: The informal affirmative command usually matches the third-person present indicative, which has the e>ie change.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: comienzo
Comenzar is a stem-changing verb where 'e' becomes 'ie': comienzo, comienzas, comienza, comenzamos, comenzáis, comienzan.
Preterite
yo: comencé
The preterite of comenzar has a spelling change in the first person: comencé, comenzaste, comenzó, comenzamos, comenzasteis, comenzaron.
Imperfect
yo: comenzaba
The imperfect of comenzar is regular: comenzaba, comenzabas, comenzaba, comenzábamos, comenzabais, comenzaban.
Future
yo: comenzaré
The future of comenzar is regular: comenzaré, comenzarás, comenzará, comenzaremos, comenzaréis, comenzarán.
Conditional
yo: comenzaría
The conditional of comenzar is regular: comenzaría, comenzarías, comenzaría, comenzaríamos, comenzaríais, comenzarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: comience
The present subjunctive of comenzar follows the e>ie stem change and the z>c spelling change: comience, comiences, comience, comencemos, comencéis, comiencen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: comenzara
The imperfect subjunctive of comenzar is regular based on the third-person preterite: comenzara, comenzaras, comenzara, comenzáramos, comenzarais, comenzaran.
Negative Imperative
yo: no comiences
The negative imperative of comenzar uses the present subjunctive forms: no comiences, no comience, no comencemos, no comencéis, no comiencen.