The Imperative Mood (Affirmative Commands) of Comenzar is used to give direct orders or instructions to begin or start something, for example: ¡Comienza el proyecto ahora! (Begin the project now!).

This verb follows the e to ie stem-changing pattern in certain conjugations. The stem vowel e changes to ie in all forms except the nosotros and vosotros forms.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Comenzar (to begin) in the Imperative Mood (Affirmative Commands) tense (Castilian Spanish):

Comenzar generally means to begin or start, but has several different meanings in the Imperative Mood (Affirmative Commands), some of which might surprise you.

To begin or start something: This is the most common meaning. For example, ¡Comienza a estudiar! (Start studying!)

To initiate an action: For example, ¡Comienza a caminar! (Start walking!)

To start doing something (colloquial): For example, ¡Comienza ya con eso! (Just start doing that already!)

To begin a journey or trip: For example, ¡Comenzad el viaje! (Begin the journey!)

To start over or begin again: For example, ¡Comencemos de nuevo! (Let’s start over!)

To start a fight or argument (rude): For example, ¡No comiences conmigo! (Don’t start with me!)

Examples

Examples of Comenzar in the Imperative Mood (Affirmative Commands)

¡Comienza a prepararte para el viaje! (Start getting ready for the trip!)

Vamos a comenzar con los ejercicios de calentamiento. (Let’s start with the warm-up exercises.)

Después de la pausa, comenzad de nuevo con el trabajo. (After the break, start again with the work.)

Cuando suene la alarma, comiencen a evacuar el edificio. (When the alarm sounds, start evacuating the building.)

¿Podemos comenzar la cena? Muero de hambre. (Can we start dinner? I’m starving.)

Es hora de comenzar a planificar las vacaciones de verano. (It’s time to start planning the summer vacation.)

Antes de salir, comienza a revisar que no te falte nada. (Before leaving, start checking that you’re not missing anything.)

En cuanto llegue el instructor, comencemos la clase de yoga. (As soon as the instructor arrives, let’s start the yoga class.)

Chicos, comenzad a recoger los juguetes del patio. (Kids, start picking up the toys from the yard.)

Para ahorrar energía, comiencen a apagar las luces cuando no las necesiten. (To save energy, start turning off the lights when you don’t need them.)

¿Listos? Comencemos con la siguiente ronda de preguntas. (Ready? Let’s start with the next round of questions.)

Una vez que tengan los materiales, comenzad con el experimento. (Once you have the materials, start the experiment.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Comenzar (to begin) in the Imperative Mood (Affirmative Commands) tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Castilian Spanish. For Latin American Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Imperative mood is also known as the Command Form, Affirmative Command Mood, or Direct Command Form in English, and as Modo Imperativo, Imperativo Afirmativo, Mandatos Afirmativos, or Forma de Mandato in Spanish.