començar de, començar a

Beginning to

Level 3

Començar a or començar de plus an infinitive means to begin to do something.

How It Works

TenseExample
presentComenci a legir.
compound pastAi començat de legir.
simple pastComencèt de manjar.

The verb after a or de is always an infinitive, even where English uses an -ing form: Comença a nevar can also be said in English as it begins snowing. For a negative, pas follows començar: Comença pas a plòure. In the imperfect, començar opens a scene: Començavi a legir quand Joan es arribat.

Watch the spelling. The first person is comenci, with a plain c, because c already sounds soft before i. Before a, the same sound takes a cedilla: començam, començatz, començan.

Examples (5)

  1. Comença a nevar.

    It is starting to snow.

    A links començar to the infinitive nevar.

  2. Comenci a trabalhar a uèch oras.

    I start work at eight o'clock.

    Comenci is the first person, spelled with c.

  3. Joan comença de legir lo libre.

    Joan begins to read the book.

    De works the same way as a.

  4. Ai començat de manjar.

    I have started to eat.

    The compound past of començar takes de or a too.

  5. Los dròlles començan a cantar.

    The children are starting to sing.

    Començan has a cedilla before the a.

Common Mistakes

  • Spelling the first person with -e.

    Comence a legir.
    Comenci a legir.

    The first person present of an -ar verb ends in -i: comenci.

  • Leaving out a or de.

    Comença plòure.
    Comença a plòure.

    Occitan needs a or de between començar and the infinitive.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

començar de, començar aLevel 3Beginning to

Learn This First

Començar takes a or de before an infinitive, so the infinitive and de come first.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

començarade