Empezar Conjugation The Present Tense & Command
Empezar Conjugation Explained
Living in Spain, sometimes you need to know more than asking for the bill or asking for tapas. We look at Empezar Conjugation and explain the contexts and uses. As you can imagine, it is always handy to learn Spanish, especially living in more rural areas.
The Spanish verb ‘Empezar’ means ‘to start.’ Learn how to talk about your routines or the activities you want to start with its present tense, and how to give commands with its imperative.
Present Tense (Indicative Mood)
Empiezo I start, am starting, do start.
Empezamos we start, are starting, do start.
Empiezas you start, are starting; you do start.
Empieza he/she/it starts, is starting, does start.
Empezamos we start, are starting, do start.
Imperative Mood
Empieza! Start! Don’t start! Be careful when giving commands in Spanish since not all verbs have an imperative form. Some verbs have a present subjunctive form instead.
The Subjunctive Mood
While the present tense is used to discuss facts and generalizations, the subjunctive mood represents a conditional state of being. The following examples show how this works in English:
If I were rich…
If it were sunny out…
The subjunctive is quite common in Spanish. The following examples show how the subjunctive works in Spanish:
Si fueras listo…
If you were smart/clever …
¡Si hiciera buen tiempo! If it were nice weather!/If the weather were good!
If your partner is sick, you might want to say; Te sientas un poco mejor. If you sit down, you feel better.
Note the use of “si” (if) and two verbs in the subjunctive mood: sentirse (to feel) and sentarse (to sit down).
No te sientes tan mal. Don’t feel so bad.
Si no fuese por ti, nunca lo habría hecho. If it weren’t for you, I never would have done it.
A great example of a day to day saying:
Proverb: Si la vida te da limones, haz limonada. If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
Meaning: Making the best of a difficult situation is better than crying about it or complaining about it. You can still find some good in a bad situation.
Si fueras tan listo… If you were so smart/clever …
If you were so smart/clever, you wouldn’t have forgotten to do your homework yesterday.
Si hiciera buen tiempo… If the weather were good …
If the weather were good, we wouldn’t have stayed indoors all day.
Te sientas un poco mejor. If you sit down, you feel better.
Si no fuese por ti, nunca lo habría hecho. If it weren’t for you, I never would have done it.
If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be an elementary school teacher today. Note the use of “si” (if) and two verbs in the subjunctive mood: sentirse (to feel) and sentarse (to sit down).
Examples of Empezar in the Present
To further help try to explain Empezar Conjugation that is easy to understand. When using this verb in context, notice that there are two possible structures:
empezar + noun
empezar + a + infinitive
Te apetece empezar la cena.”
You feel like starting dinner.
Te apetece empezar a cenar. You feel like starting to eat dinner.
Para octubre todas las tiendas del centro están empezando a decorar sus escaparates.
For October, all the shops in the center are starting to decorate their windows.
Para octubre todas las tiendas del centro están empezando a poner adornos en sus escaparates. For October, all the shops in the center are starting to put decorations in their windows.
Carmen empieza a cocinar la cena mientras Daniel arregla el salón.
Carmen is starting to cook dinner while Daniel is arranging the living room.”
Carmen está empezando a cocinar la cena mientras Daniel está poniendo orden en el salón. Carmen is starting to cook dinner while Daniel is straightening up the living room.”
empezar a + infinitivo
La niña empieza a hablar cuando llega su mamá al cole.
The girl starts talking when her mom arrives at school.
La niña está empezando a hablar cuando llega su mamá al cole. The girl is starting to talk when her mom arrives at school.
empezar + noun + a + infinitivo
José y Óscar empiezan a trabajar en el invernadero.
José and Oscar are starting to work in the greenhouse.
Summing Up
Hopefully this is not too mind numbing and you now understand a little bit more about Empezar Conjugation and how to include this in your Spanish spoken requirements.
