Focus on French Verbs: commencer

The French verb commencer means "to begin" or "to start." You can use it to talk about an event or activity beginning, starting something yourself, or beginning to do something.

Two particularly important constructions are commencer à + infinitive, meaning to begin doing something, and commencer par, which identifies what someone or something starts with.

Conjugation

Commencer is a regular -er verb with a spelling change before endings that begin with a or o. The c becomes ç to preserve the soft c sound:

Other forms keep c:

See commencer for all tenses and forms.

Common patterns and prepositions

Commencer can take a direct object with no preposition when you start something. Other constructions use à or par.

Commencer + noun: starting something

Use commencer + noun when someone starts an activity, task, project, or other thing:

The basic pattern is:

commencer + noun

No preposition is required between commencer and its direct object. The object tells you what is being started.

When something begins

Commencer does not need a direct object. The subject can itself be the event or activity that begins:

This use is common with events, classes, performances, work, seasons, periods of time, and other things that have a beginning.

Commencer à + infinitive

Use commencer à + infinitive when someone or something begins to do something:

The pattern is:

commencer à + infinitive

The à is part of the construction.

Compare:

The first sentence uses a noun as the direct object. The second uses à + infinitive to express the action that is beginning.

Commencer par + noun

Commencer par + noun identifies the first thing in a sequence:

The pattern is:

commencer par + noun

The emphasis is not simply that something begins, but that this is the first step, item, or part.

Commencer par + infinitive

Commencer par can also introduce an infinitive:

Compare:

Commencer à describes an action beginning. Commencer par identifies that action as the first step in a sequence.

Commencer à vs commencer par

This distinction is one of the most useful things to learn about commencer.

Use commencer à + infinitive when the important idea is that an action begins:

Use commencer par + infinitive when the important idea is what happens first:

The second sentence in each pair suggests that other actions follow. A simple way to remember the distinction:

• commencer à — begin doing
• commencer par — begin by / start with

Commencer à + time

The preposition à can also introduce the time when something begins:

This is not the same construction as commencer à + infinitive. Here, à introduces a time rather than an action.

You can distinguish them by looking at what follows:

Ça commence...

Ça commence is a common way to say that something is beginning:

The expression can refer to an event literally beginning or to a situation beginning to develop.

Common expressions with commencer

Several useful patterns use commencer:

• commencer quelque chose — to start something
• commencer à + infinitive — to begin doing something
• commencer par + noun — to start with something
• commencer par + infinitive — to start by doing something
• commencer à + time — to start at a particular time
• ça commence — it's starting
• pour commencer — to begin with, for starters

Pour commencer is particularly useful when organizing ideas or a sequence of actions:

Common mistakes with commencer

Use à before an infinitive when an action begins

The standard construction is:

commencer à + infinitive

The new action follows à as an infinitive:

Remember the à between commencer and the infinitive.

Distinguish commencer à from commencer par

The first says that cooking begins. The second identifies cutting the vegetables as the first step.

Don't add a preposition before a direct object

When commencer takes a noun as its direct object, no preposition is needed:

In the second sentence, à neuf heures gives the time when the class starts; it is not the object of commencer.

Remember the ç in nous commençons

Not nous commencons. The cedilla keeps the c pronounced like the c in commence rather than changing to a hard sound before o. The same spelling change appears in forms such as je commençais.

Commencer vs débuter

Commencer and débuter can both describe something beginning:

Commencer is the more general verb and works in a wide range of constructions, including commencer quelque chose and commencer à + infinitive. Débuter is especially common when talking about the beginning of an event, period, activity, or career.

Commencer vs démarrer

Démarrer can also mean to start, particularly when something starts operating or moving:

Commencer is the broader verb for something beginning:

With machines and vehicles, démarrer often corresponds more closely to English "start up."

Commencer vs se mettre à

Se mettre à + infinitive can also describe the beginning of an action:

Both constructions can describe an action beginning. Se mettre à often presents the transition into the action more strongly and is especially common for something someone suddenly or noticeably starts doing.

The constructions are different:

commencer à + infinitive

se mettre à + infinitive

Related verbs

The most important patterns to learn are commencer + noun, commencer à + infinitive, and commencer par. Together, they let you distinguish between starting something, beginning to do something, and choosing what to do first.

From learning to practice

Classes and meetings give you Le cours commence à neuf heures and On commence ? almost daily. When you describe your own actions, notice whether you need a thing (Je commence le travail) or an action (Je commence à travailler). In instructions or recipes, Commencez par… often marks the first step — distinct from simply saying something is beginning.