Commencer: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in French

Introduction

Commencer means “to begin”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in French — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for commencer, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.

Example sentences

Twelve sentences with commencer, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the French first, guess the meaning, then check the English.

  1. “Je commence le travail à huit heures tous les jours.” — “I begin work at eight o'clock every day.”
  2. “Tu commences un livre ce soir tous les jours.” — “You begin a book this evening every day.”
  3. “J'ai commencé à apprendre le français cette semaine.” — “I have begun to learn French this week.”
  4. “Il commençait le travail à huit heures autrefois.” — “He used to begin work at eight o'clock in the past.”
  5. “Nous commencerons un livre ce soir demain.” — “We will begin a book this evening tomorrow.”
  6. “Tu as commencé à apprendre le français cette semaine.” — “You have begun to learn French this week.”
  7. “Je commencerais le travail à huit heures un jour.” — “I would begin work at eight o'clock one day.”
  8. “Il est important que il commence un livre ce soir.” — “It is important that he begin a book this evening.”
  9. “Nous avions commencé à apprendre le français avant la fête.” — “We had begun to learn French before the party.”
  10. “Il commencera le travail à huit heures demain.” — “He will begin work at eight o'clock tomorrow.”
  11. “Ils commencent un livre ce soir tous les jours.” — “They begin a book this evening every day.”
  12. “Commence à apprendre le français !” — “Begin to learn French!”

A short dialogue

Marie and Pierre are talking about work at eight o'clock. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how commencer changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of commencer below is taken from the verified tables.

Marie : Tu fais quoi, ce soir ? Pierre : “Je commence le travail à huit heures tous les jours.” — “I begin work at eight o'clock every day.” Marie : Et demain ? Pierre : “Je commencerai un livre ce soir demain.” — “I will begin a book this evening tomorrow.” Marie : Tu as fait ça hier aussi ? Pierre : “J'ai commencé à apprendre le français cette semaine.” — “I have begun to learn French this week.” Marie : Tu ferais ça un jour ? Pierre : “Je commencerais le travail à huit heures un jour.” — “I would begin work at eight o'clock one day.”

Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the passé composé for yesterday, and the conditional for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.

Commencer in different tenses

The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of commencer that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.

The present: habits and facts

In the present, commencer describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The je form is commence: “Je commence le travail à huit heures tous les jours.” — “I begin work at eight o'clock every day.”

The imperfect: the past as it used to be

In the imperfect, commencer describes the past as it used to be — background, habit, an action in progress. The il form is commençait: “Il commençait un livre ce soir autrefois.” — “He used to begin a book this evening in the past.”

The passé composé: finished actions

In the passé composé, commencer reports one finished action, built with avoir plus the participle commencé. The je form is ai commencé: “J'ai commencé à apprendre le français cette semaine.” — “I have begun to learn French this week.”

The future: what will happen

In the future, commencer talks about what will happen. The nous form is commencerons: “Nous commencerons le travail à huit heures demain.” — “We will begin work at eight o'clock tomorrow.”

The conditional: what would happen

In the conditional, commencer talks about what would happen. The tu form is commencerais: “Tu commencerais un livre ce soir un jour.” — “You would begin a book this evening one day.”

The subjunctive: wishes and doubts

In the subjunctive, commencer appears after triggers such as il est important que. The form is commence, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Il est important que je commence à apprendre le français.” — “It is important that I begin to learn French.”

Common mistakes

Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Je commencer le travail à huit heures.”

✓ Right: “Je commence le travail à huit heures.”

The infinitive commencer never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated form commence.

Using the wrong person’s form

✗ Wrong: “Tu commence le travail à huit heures.”

✓ Right: “Tu commences le travail à huit heures.”

commence is the je form. With tu you need commences. Check the subject before you choose the form.

Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Je commence le travail à huit heures hier.”

✓ Right: “Je ai commencé le travail à huit heures hier.”

The time word hier points to the past, so a finished action needs the passé composé ai commencé, not the present.

Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

✗ Wrong: “Il est important que tu commences un livre ce soir.”

✓ Right: “Il est important que tu commences un livre ce soir.”

After il est important que French needs the subjunctive: commences, not the indicative commences.

Forgetting the auxiliary in the passé composé

✗ Wrong: “Je commencé le travail à huit heures.”

✓ Right: “Je ai commencé le travail à huit heures.”

The passé composé of commencer needs the auxiliary avoir plus the participle commencé: the full je form is ai commencé.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on commencer. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.

  1. What is the je form of commencer in the Present indicative?

    • A) commencez
    • B) commence
    • C) commences
    • D) commençons

  2. What is the tu form of commencer in the Present indicative?

    • A) commençons
    • B) commencez
    • C) commences
    • D) commence

  3. What is the il/elle form of commencer in the Present perfect (passé composé)?

    • A) a commencé
    • B) ai commencé
    • C) as commencé
    • D) avons commencé

  4. What is the nous form of commencer in the Imperfect?

    • A) commençiez
    • B) commençions
    • C) commençais
    • D) commençait

  5. What is the tu form of commencer in the Future?

    • A) commencerai
    • B) commencera
    • C) commencerons
    • D) commenceras

  6. What is the je form of commencer in the Conditional?

    • A) commencerions
    • B) commenceriez
    • C) commencerais
    • D) commencerait

  7. What is the il/elle form of commencer in the Present subjunctive?

    • A) commençiez
    • B) commence
    • C) commences
    • D) commençions

  8. What is the je form of commencer in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?

    • A) aviez commencé
    • B) avais commencé
    • C) avait commencé
    • D) avions commencé

  9. What is the gerund of commencer?

    • A) en commençant
    • B) en appelant
    • C) en permettant
    • D) en regardant

  10. What does commencer mean in English?

  • A) to begin
  • B) to call
  • C) to allow
  • D) to look at

Answer key

  1. B) commence — the je form of commencer in the Present indicative is commence. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) commences — the tu form of commencer in the Present indicative is commences. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. A) a commencé — the il/elle form of commencer in the Present perfect (passé composé) is a commencé. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. B) commençions — the nous form of commencer in the Imperfect is commençions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. D) commenceras — the tu form of commencer in the Future is commenceras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) commencerais — the je form of commencer in the Conditional is commencerais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. B) commence — the il/elle form of commencer in the Present subjunctive is commence. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. B) avais commencé — the je form of commencer in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is avais commencé. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. A) en commençant — the gerund of commencer is en commençant. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
  10. A) to begin — commencer means “to begin” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.

Frequently asked questions

What does commencer mean in English?

commencer means “to begin”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.

Is commencer regular or irregular?

commencer is irregular in these tenses: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is commençant and the past participle is commencé.

How do I practise commencer every day?

Say one sentence with commencer in the present, one in the passé composé and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Je commence le travail à huit heures tous les jours.”, “J'ai commencé le travail à huit heures cette semaine.” and “Je commencerai le travail à huit heures demain.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for commencer, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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