comenzar Preterite Conjugation
comenzar — to start
The preterite of comenzar has a spelling change in the first person: comencé, comenzaste, comenzó, comenzamos, comenzasteis, comenzaron.
comenzar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite when you are pinpointing the exact moment something started in the past, like a movie, a class, or a specific event.
Notes on comenzar in the Preterite
Watch out for the 'yo' form! The 'z' changes to a 'c' (comencé) to keep the soft 's' sound before the letter 'e'. All other forms are regular.
Example Sentences
Comencé mi dieta el lunes pasado.
I started my diet last Monday.
yo
La película comenzó hace diez minutos.
The movie started ten minutes ago.
él/ella/usted
Comenzamos a trabajar temprano hoy.
We started working early today.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Writing 'comenzé' with a z.
Correct: comencé
Why: In Spanish, 'z' almost never appears before 'e' or 'i'; it must change to 'c' to maintain the sound.
Master Spanish verbs in context
Memorizing tables only gets you so far. Read 200+ illustrated and narrated Spanish stories to see verbs like 'comenzar' used naturally — in the tenses you're learning.
Related Tenses
Present
yo: comienzo
Comenzar is a stem-changing verb where 'e' becomes 'ie': comienzo, comienzas, comienza, comenzamos, comenzáis, comienzan.
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.
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.