Spanish Verbs Meaning to Begin

Spanish has two everyday verbs that can be used for to begin or to start: empezar and comenzar. They usually can be used interchangeably. Although empezar is more common than comenzar, comenzar doesnt come across as conspicuously formal like its English cognate, commence. Both empezar and comenzar are conjugated irregularly. Correct Way to Use Empezar and Comenzar To say to begin to do something, you can use either of the verbs followed by the preposition a and an infinitive: El web empieza a generar dinero. The website is beginning to generate money. ¿A quà © hora empezà ³ a nevar? At what time did it begin to snow?Cuando llegamos a Quito, comenzaba a llover. When we arrived at Quito, it was beginning to rain.Uruguay comienza a estudiar la produccià ³n de energà ­a nuclear. Uruguay is beginning to study the production of nuclear energy.Empiezo a pensar por ti mismo. I am beginning to think just like you.La inflacià ³n va a empezar muy pronto a bajar. Inflation is going to begin to drop very soon. Each verb can stand by itself without an object: La lluvia empieza a caer mà ¡s y mà ¡s fuerte. The rain is beginning to fall harder and harder.El mitin comenzà ³ finalmente a las 10 de la noche. The meeting finally began at 10 p.m.Bueno, pues sà ­, empezamos con esto. Good, then, lets get started with it. (Literally, with this.)La boda comenzarà ¡ a las 12:30 hora local. The wedding will begin at 12:30 local time. When either verb is followed by a gerund, it often has the meaning of to begin by or to start out: Empezà ³ estudiando en el taller del escultor famoso. She started out studying in the famous sculptors studio.Comencà © trabajando 10 horas por dà ­a como limpiadora de casa. I started out working 10 hours per day as a housecleaner.Empezamos corriendo juntos el primer kilà ³metro. We begin by running the first kilometer together. Although probably not as common as in English, the two verbs can also take direct objects to indicate what is getting started: Tiene muchos consejillos para comenzar un negocio. He has many tips for starting a business.La ciudad empezà ³ la reparacià ³n de la calles en abril. The city began the street repairs in April. Other Verbs for To Begin As just shown, you often can use the verbs to refer to beginning an activity with the activity as the object of the verb. But it is also common to use the verb emprender for that purpose. Emprender is especially common when referring to the beginning of travel. No quiere emprender la tarea sin ayuda. He doesnt want to do the task without help.Dentro de unos minutos emprendo el viaje. Within a few minutes I begin the trip.Emprendieron el reto de construir un proyecto conjunto. They began the challenge of building a project together.Emprendà ­ el vuelo en direccià ³n hacia donde el sol se pone. I began the flight in the direction of the sunset. The verb originarse often translates to begin when it is used to mean to originate: El problema se originaba cuando navegaba ciertas pà ¡ginas web. The problem started when I was going to certain web pages.La crisis econà ³mica mundial se originà ³ en EEUU. The world economic crisis began in the U.S. Use of Verb Tense To Indicate Beginning Often, when speaking of events in the past, the preterite tense is used in preference to the imperfect to indicate that an activity began. A form of begin isnt necessarily used in translation, however. A common example is the verb conocer, which often means to know a person. The difference between Conocà ­a a Katrina and Conocà ­ a Katrina is roughly the difference between I knew Katrina and I began to know Katrina. Typically, the second sentence would be translated as I met Katrina. Other examples: Yo tenà ­a calor. (I was warm.) Tuve calor. (I began to be warm. I got warm.)Ella sabà ­a la verdad. (She knew the truth.) Supo la verdad. (She began knowing the truth. She found out the truth.) This concept is further explained in the lesson on using the past tense with certain verbs.