Empezar Conjugation 101: Conjugate Empezar In Spanish

Learning empezar conjugation patterns can help you practice -AR verbs with an E to IE stem change. Since this verb is also essential for your conversations, in this guide, we’ll learn how to conjugate empezar in Spanish. Here is an overview of what we’ll cover. 

• Empezar Overview
• Indicative Tenses of Empezar Conjugations
  • Present tense
  • Preterite tense
  • Imperfect tense
  • Near Future tense
  • Future tense
  • Conditional tense
  • Present Perfect tense
  • Past Perfect tense
  • Future Perfect tense
  • Conditional Perfect tense
  • Progressive tenses
• Subjunctive Tenses of Empezar Conjugations
  • Present Subjunctive tense
  • Present Perfect Subjunctive tense
  • Imperfect Subjunctive tense
  • Past Perfect Subjunctive tense
• Imperative (Commands) of Empezar Conjugations
  • Affirmative Commands
  • Negative Commands
• Uses & Examples
• Download Empezar Conjugation Tables & Uses Cheat sheets
• Empezar Conjugation Practice Quiz

Overview of Empezar

Indicative Conjugations of Empezar

Present tense

Empezar conjugation in the present tense has an E to IE stem change for all subject pronouns except ‘vosotros’ and ‘nosotros’. Conjugate this verb to the present indicative to say that an activity or event starts. For example: La película empieza en una hora. 

Preterite tense

Empezar’s preterite conjugation patterns have no stem changes for the most part. Use the stem empec for the subject pronoun ‘yo’. When conjugated to the preterite tense, this verb communicates that an action started at a specific moment in the past.

For example: Hace dos años, empecé a estudiar español. 

Take Note: In this tense, we have a z to c change because, in Spanish, we must replace the letter z for c in front of the vowel e. This change is applied to verbs ending with -zar, such as comenzar, almorzar, reemplazar, etc.

Imperfect tense

As shown in the empezar conjugation chart below, this verb has no changes when conjugated to the imperfect tense. Use these conjugations to talk about activities people used to start repeatedly in the past. For example: Mi programa favorito empezaba a las 8. 

Near future

The Spanish near or immediate future tense is formed with the present conjugations of ir + a + empezar. These empezar conjugations allow you to express that something will start soon in the future. For instance: En unos minutos, mis amigos van a empezar a llegar. 

Future simple tense

Use empezar in the Spanish future simple tense to say that an activity will start at some point in the future. Creo que empezaremos a trabajar la próxima semana. 

Conditional tense

This verb conjugated to the conditional tense in Spanish expresses that someone or something would start an activity. If applicable to your statement, you can use si sentences to introduce the conditions that need to be met. Here is an example: ¿Por qué la fiesta empezaría tan tarde?

Present perfect tense

To form the present perfect tense in Spanish, use haber in the present tense + empezado (past participle). In this tense, empezar conveys whether an activity has started or not. For instance: Todavía no hemos empezado el proyecto. 

Past perfect

Conjugate empezar to the past perfect tense in Spanish to explain that an activity had started before another past reference point. The formula to conjugate this tense is haber (imperfect form) + past participle form of ‘empezar’. Cuando llegamos, ya habían empezado a cenar. 

Future perfect

The future perfect forms of empezar allow you to say that an activity will have started by or before a certain time in the future. ¿Crees que ya habrán empezado a abordar?

Conditional perfect

In Spanish, empezar conjugated to the conditional perfect tense expresses that an activity would have started if a past condition had occurred. For example: Si hubiera sabido que era urgente, habría empezado a prepararlo antes. 

Progressive tenses

The progressive tenses of empezar are used to emphasize that an action is starting at the moment of speaking. Or, in the case of past forms, to say that something was starting when a past action took place. For example: A las 8, mis hermanos estaban empezando a jugar. 

Empezar Subjunctive Conjugations

In Spanish, the subjunctive mood is used to talk about someone’s hopes, expectations, uncertainty about an activity, suggestions, demands, wishes, or potential outcomes. We’ll review the empezar conjugation charts for the key subjunctive tenses in the coming sections. 

Present subjunctive

Empezar present subjunctive conjugations have an E to IE stem change for all subjects except ‘nosotros’ and ‘vosotros’. Additionally, all subject pronouns have a z to c change. You can see these patterns in the empezar conjugation chart below. 

When conjugated to this tense, we use empezar to express wishes or request someone to start something. For example: Ojalá que pronto empieces a ganar más dinero. 

Take Note: When conjugating verbs ending with -zar to the subjunctive tense, we must replace z with c because all the subjunctive endings start with the vowel ‘e’. 

Present perfect subjunctive

Haber in the present subjunctive + empezado is how we form the present perfect subjunctive of ‘empezar’. Use these conjugations to express uncertainty or wish that an activity has already started. Espero que hayas empezado a limpiar tu cuarto. 

Imperfect subjunctive

When conjugated to the imperfect subjunctive tense, empezar refers to past suggestions, expectations, wishes, or hopes someone had about a person starting an action. For example: Yo quería que empézaramos a pintar la sala hoy. 

Depending on whether you’re learning Castilian or Latin American Spanish, there are two ways to conjugate the imperfect subjunctive:

Latin American Spanish version

Note: Since vosotros is not used in Latin American Spanish, the empezar conjugation for this pronoun has not been included in the chart.

Castilian Spanish version

Past perfect subjunctive

The past perfect subjunctive of empezar expresses that an action would have started if a past condition was fulfilled. These forms also convey regret or hypothetical outcomes if you had started something. For example: Si hubieras empezado antes, habríamos terminado a tiempo. 

Empezar Imperative Conjugations

The Spanish imperative or commands are used to tell people what to do or not to do. 

Affirmative commands

This verb’s affirmative commands conjugations are formed with an E to IE and a z to c stem change. Check the empezar conjugation table below to see which subject pronouns are affected by these changes. 

These affirmative imperative forms are used to order someone to start doing something. For example: Por favor, empiecen a contestar su examen. 

Negative commands

These empezar conjugations have a z to c stem change for all subject pronouns. Additionally, some pronouns may also be affected by an E to IE change. To order someone not to start doing something, you must use the Spanish negative imperative. No empieces hasta que yo te diga.

Meanings of Empezar & Examples

In the previous sections, we’ve learned how to conjugate empezar. Now we’ll review how to use this verb. Given that it’s the direct translation of ‘to start’ or ‘to begin’, empezar communicates the beginning of an activity. 

[Empezar conjugated] + [complement]

¿Ya la empezaron a ver?
Did you guys already start watching it? 

Empecé a estudiar español hace tres años. 
I started learning Spanish three years ago. 

La reunión empezará a las 9 de la mañana. 
The meeting will start at 9 in the morning. 

Take Note: Use the formula empezar + a + infinitive verb to say that someone is starting to do an activity. If the verb you use takes a direct object (such as watching something, reading a book, etc), you can use direct object pronouns to replace that information. 

Download Empezar Conjugation Charts & Uses Cheat sheet

Empezar is one of the most commonly used -AR verbs in Spanish. It’s also a stem-changing verb, so it can be tricky to conjugate in many of its tenses. You can review its different forms in the empezar conjugation reference guide.

Download Conjugations PDF

Practice Quiz: Empezar Conjugation

Congratulations! You’ve learned how to conjugate the verb empezar in Spanish. Now, you should take the empezar conjugation practice quiz to test your skills and practice this stem-changing AR verb.

Take Quiz