empezar Imperfect Conjugation
empezar — to start
Empezar is regular in the imperfect: empezaba, empezabas, empezaba, empezábamos, empezabais, empezaban.
empezar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe a starting process that was ongoing in the past, or to set the scene (e.g., 'It was starting to rain when...').
Notes on empezar in the Imperfect
There are no irregularities or stem changes for -ar verbs in the imperfect.
Example Sentences
Antes, yo empezaba a leer un libro cada semana.
Before, I used to start a book every week.
yo
La gente empezaba a llegar cuando llegamos nosotros.
People were starting to arrive when we arrived.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Siempre empezábamos las reuniones con un café.
We always used to start meetings with a coffee.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on the nosotros form (empezabamos).
Correct: empezábamos
Why: All -ar verbs in the imperfect require an accent on the first 'a' of the 'ábamos' ending.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: empiezo
Empezar is a stem-changing verb where the 'e' becomes 'ie' in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
Preterite
yo: empecé
Empezar has a spelling change in the 'yo' form (empecé) but is otherwise regular in the preterite.
Future
yo: empezaré
The future tense of empezar is completely regular: empezaré, empezarás, empezará, etc.
Conditional
yo: empezaría
The conditional of empezar is regular: empezaría, empezarías, empezaría, empezaríamos, empezaríais, empezarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: empiece
The present subjunctive of empezar features both a stem change (ie) and a spelling change (z to c).
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: empezara
The imperfect subjunctive of empezar is based on the 3rd person plural preterite: empezara, empezaras, empezara...
Affirmative Imperative
yo: empieza
The imperative uses 'empieza' for informal commands and 'empiece' for formal ones.
Negative Imperative
yo: no empieces
Negative commands for empezar always use the present subjunctive forms: no empieces, no empiece, no empecemos.