comenzar Imperfect Conjugation
comenzar — to start
The imperfect of comenzar is regular: comenzaba, comenzabas, comenzaba, comenzábamos, comenzabais, comenzaban.
comenzar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use this for habitual starts in the past (e.g., 'I used to start at 8') or to describe the start of an action that was interrupted.
Notes on comenzar in the Imperfect
Comenzar is fully regular in the imperfect. No stem changes or spelling changes occur here.
Example Sentences
Antes, la clase comenzaba más tarde.
Before, the class used to start later.
él/ella/usted
Comenzábamos a cenar cuando llegaste.
We were starting to eat dinner when you arrived.
nosotros
Los niños siempre comenzaban a gritar.
The kids always used to start screaming.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on the nosotros form.
Correct: comenzábamos
Why: All -ar verbs in the imperfect require an accent on the 'á' in the nosotros form.
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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.
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.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: comienza
The imperative of comenzar uses the stem change for informal commands: comienza (tú), comience (usted), comencemos (nosotros), comenzad (vosotros), comiencen (ustedes).
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.