Kilo Lingo

/empeˈθaɾ/

Line drawing of empezar
Coloured illustration of empezar
#187 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

to start, to begin

Word origin

From Vulgar Latin impedire reanalysed, but more reliably from em- plus pieza ('piece'), from Celtic-Latin pettia ('piece, portion'). The notion was 'to begin a piece', that is 'to begin'.

Origin
Latin
Root
em- + pettia
English cognates
piece

Grammar

Verb type-ar irregular

Conjugation

Regular spanish-irregular conjugation. Pronouns: yo, tú, él/ella/ud., nos., vos., ellos/uds..

Indicative

Person PresentPreteriteImperfectFutureConditional
yoempiezoempecéempezabaempezaréempezaría
túempiezasempezasteempezabasempezarásempezarías
él/ella/ud.empiezaempezóempezabaempezaráempezaría
nos.empezamosempezamosempezábamosempezaremosempezaríamos
vos.empezáisempezasteisempezabaisempezaréisempezaríais
ellos/uds.empiezanempezaronempezabanempezaránempezarían

Subjunctive

Person PresentImperfect (-ra)Imperfect (-se)
yoempieceempezaraempezase
túempiecesempezarasempezases
él/ella/ud.empieceempezaraempezase
nos.empecemosempezáramosempezásemos
vos.empecéisempezaraisempezaseis
ellos/uds.empiecenempezaranempezasen

Imperative

Person Affirmative
túempieza
ud.empiece
nosotrosempecemos
vosotrosempezad
uds.empiecen

Non-finite

Gerund / present participle
empezando
Past participle
empezado

Examples

, llegues .

The class starts at nine sharp, do not be late.

urgente .

We are going to start with the most urgent item on the agenda.

.

It started to get cold just as we left the building.

, .

Before we begin, I want to thank everyone for being here.

piano .

My grandfather started playing the piano when he was already old.

Used in

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This word is part of lesson 4.