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Definition 2024
commencer
commencer
French
Etymology
From Old French comencier, from Vulgar Latin *cominitiō, *cominitiāre, from com- + Late Latin initiāre, present active infinitive of initiō. Compare Catalan començar, Italian cominciare, Portuguese começar, Romansch cumanzar, Spanish comenzar.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kɔ.mɑ̃.se/
Verb
commencer
Conjugation
This verb is part of a group of -er verbs for which ‘c’ is softened to a ‘ç’ before the vowels ‘a’ and ‘o’.
Conjugation of commencer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | commencer | avoir commencé | |||||
| gerund | en commençant | en ayant commencé | |||||
| present participle | commençant /kɔ.mɑ̃.sɑ̃/ |
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| past participle | commencé /kɔ.mɑ̃.se/ |
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| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il | nous | vous | ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | commence /kɔ.mɑ̃s/ |
commences /kɔ.mɑ̃s/ |
commence /kɔ.mɑ̃s/ |
commençons /kɔ.mɑ̃.sɔ̃/ |
commencez /kɔ.mɑ̃.se/ |
commencent /kɔ.mɑ̃s/ |
| imperfect | commençais /kɔ.mɑ̃.sɛ/ |
commençais /kɔ.mɑ̃.sɛ/ |
commençait /kɔ.mɑ̃.sɛ/ |
commencions /kɔ.mɑ̃.sjɔ̃/ |
commenciez /kɔ.mɑ̃.sje/ |
commençaient /kɔ.mɑ̃.sɛ/ |
|
| past historic1 | commençai /kɔ.mɑ̃.se/ |
commenças /kɔ.mɑ̃.sa/ |
commença /kɔ.mɑ̃.sa/ |
commençâmes /kɔ.mɑ̃.sam/ |
commençâtes /kɔ.mɑ̃.sat/ |
commencèrent /kɔ.mɑ̃.sɛʁ/ |
|
| future | commencerai /kɔ.mɑ̃.sʁe/ |
commenceras /kɔ.mɑ̃.sʁa/ |
commencera /kɔ.mɑ̃.sʁa/ |
commencerons /kɔ.mɑ̃.sʁɔ̃/ |
commencerez /kɔ.mɑ̃.sʁe/ |
commenceront /kɔ.mɑ̃.sʁɔ̃/ |
|
| conditional | commencerais /kɔ.mɑ̃.sʁɛ/ |
commencerais /kɔ.mɑ̃.sʁɛ/ |
commencerait /kɔ.mɑ̃.sʁɛ/ |
commencerions /kɔ.mɑ̃.sə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
commenceriez /kɔ.mɑ̃.sə.ʁje/ |
commenceraient /kɔ.mɑ̃.sʁɛ/ |
|
| compound tenses |
present perfect | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| past anterior1 | Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il | que nous | que vous | qu’ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | commence /kɔ.mɑ̃s/ |
commences /kɔ.mɑ̃s/ |
commence /kɔ.mɑ̃s/ |
commencions /kɔ.mɑ̃.sjɔ̃/ |
commenciez /kɔ.mɑ̃.sje/ |
commencent /kɔ.mɑ̃s/ |
| imperfect1 |
commençasse /kɔ.mɑ̃.sas/ |
commençasses /kɔ.mɑ̃.sas/ |
commençât /kɔ.mɑ̃.sa/ |
commençassions /kɔ.mɑ̃.sa.sjɔ̃/ |
commençassiez /kɔ.mɑ̃.sa.sje/ |
commençassent /kɔ.mɑ̃.sas/ |
|
| compound tenses |
past | Use the present subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect1 | Use the imperfect subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nous | vous | – | |
| — | commence /kɔ.mɑ̃s/ |
— | commençons /kɔ.mɑ̃.sɔ̃/ |
commencez /kɔ.mɑ̃.se/ |
— | ||
| 1literary tenses | |||||||
Middle French
Verb
commencer
- (transitive, intransitive) to start; to begin
Conjugation
- As parler except c becomes ç before a and o. May remain c in older manuscripts.
- Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of commencer
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | commencer | avoir commencé | |||||
| gerund | en commençant | Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| present participle | commençant | ||||||
| past participle | commencé | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | ie (may be i' before a vowel) | tu | il | nous | vous | ilz, elles | |
| simple tenses |
present | commence | commences | commence | commençons | commencez | commencent |
| imperfect | commençois, commençoys | commençois, commençoys | commençoit, commençoyt | commencions, commençons | commenciez, commencyez | commençoient, commençoyent | |
| past historic | commença | commenças | commença | commençasmes | commençastes | commencerent | |
| future | commencerai, commenceray | commenceras | commencera | commencerons | commencerez | commenceront | |
| conditional | commencerois, commenceroys | commencerois, commenceroys | commenceroit, commenceroyt | commencerions, commenceryons | commenceriez, commenceryez | commenceroient, commenceroyent | |
| compound tenses |
present perfect | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| past anterior | Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que ie | que tu | qu'il | que nous | que vous | qu'ilz, qu'elles | |
| simple tenses |
present | commence | commences | commence | commençons | commencez | commencent |
| imperfect | commençasse | commençasses | commençast | commençassions | commençassiez | commençassent | |
| compound tenses |
past | Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nous | vous | – | |
| — | commence | — | commençons | commencez | — | ||