comenzar preterite conjugation
Comenzar (to begin, start) in the preterite: comencé, comenzaste, comenzó, comenzamos, comenzasteis, comenzaron.
Pretérito indefinido Preterite
| yo | |
|---|---|
| tú | |
| él/ella/usted | |
| nosotros | |
| vosotros | |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes |
ending regular · irr breaks the pattern · tap a form to hear it
When to use the preterite
The preterite (pretérito indefinido) is the past tense for completed actions with a clear start or end: “Ayer hice la cena.” For background, habits and ongoing states in the past, Spanish uses the imperfect instead.
How it is formed
Regular endings: -ar → é, aste, ó, amos, asteis, aron; -er/-ir → í, iste, ió, imos, isteis, ieron. Many common verbs use an irregular stem (hic-, tuv-, estuv-, pud-, quis-, dij-) with unstressed endings -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron.
Comenzar is regular here, so it is a good model for other verbs of the same class.
Read more: Preterite vs imperfect: when to use each
Comenzar in a sentence
- La clase comienza a las nueve.The class starts at nine.
- Comenzamos el proyecto ayer.We started the project yesterday.
Stem-changing e→ie (comienzo); spelling change z→c before e (comencé).
FAQ
What is the preterite of comenzar?
Comenzar in the Spanish preterite: yo comencé, tú comenzaste, él/ella/usted comenzó, nosotros comenzamos, vosotros comenzasteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes comenzaron.
Is comenzar irregular in the preterite?
No. In the preterite comenzar takes the regular endings for its verb class, so comencé follows the same pattern as any regular verb.
When do you use the Spanish preterite?
The preterite (pretérito indefinido) is the past tense for completed actions with a clear start or end: “Ayer hice la cena.” For background, habits and ongoing states in the past, Spanish uses the imperfect instead.
How is the preterite formed?
Regular endings: -ar → é, aste, ó, amos, asteis, aron; -er/-ir → í, iste, ió, imos, isteis, ieron. Many common verbs use an irregular stem (hic-, tuv-, estuv-, pud-, quis-, dij-) with unstressed endings -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron.
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