Empezar Conjugation in Spanish
empezar means “begin” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 37 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for starting to study or work, for starting a job on a day, and for beginning to rain. Because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of empezar — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Yo empiezo a estudiar todos los días.” — “I begin studying every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: empezar
- English: to begin
- Verb type: Irregular — stem-changing (e → ie) — spelling-changing
- Irregular in: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative
- Gerund: empezando
- Past participle: empezado
- Auxiliary: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + the past participle)
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for empezar. Learn the present tense first, then the preterite and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | empiezo |
| tú | empiezas |
| él/ella/Ud. | empieza |
| nosotros/as | empezamos |
| vosotros/as | empezáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | empiezan |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | empecé |
| tú | empezaste |
| él/ella/Ud. | empezó |
| nosotros/as | empezamos |
| vosotros/as | empezasteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | empezaron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | empezaba |
| tú | empezabas |
| él/ella/Ud. | empezaba |
| nosotros/as | empezábamos |
| vosotros/as | empezabais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | empezaban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | empezaré |
| tú | empezarás |
| él/ella/Ud. | empezará |
| nosotros/as | empezaremos |
| vosotros/as | empezaréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | empezarán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | empezaría |
| tú | empezarías |
| él/ella/Ud. | empezaría |
| nosotros/as | empezaríamos |
| vosotros/as | empezaríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | empezarían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he empezado |
| tú | has empezado |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha empezado |
| nosotros/as | hemos empezado |
| vosotros/as | habéis empezado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han empezado |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había empezado |
| tú | habías empezado |
| él/ella/Ud. | había empezado |
| nosotros/as | habíamos empezado |
| vosotros/as | habíais empezado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían empezado |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré empezado |
| tú | habrás empezado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá empezado |
| nosotros/as | habremos empezado |
| vosotros/as | habréis empezado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán empezado |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría empezado |
| tú | habrías empezado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría empezado |
| nosotros/as | habríamos empezado |
| vosotros/as | habríais empezado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían empezado |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | empiece |
| tú | empieces |
| él/ella/Ud. | empiece |
| nosotros/as | empecemos |
| vosotros/as | empecéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | empiecen |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | empezara |
| tú | empezaras |
| él/ella/Ud. | empezara |
| nosotros/as | empezáramos |
| vosotros/as | empezarais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | empezaran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | empieza |
| él/ella/Ud. | empiece |
| nosotros/as | empecemos |
| vosotros/as | empezad |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | empiecen |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | empieces |
| él/ella/Ud. | empiece |
| nosotros/as | empecemos |
| vosotros/as | empecéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | empiecen |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | empezando |
| Past participle | empezado |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With empezar this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Yo empiezo a estudiar todos los días.” — “I begin studying every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. For example: “Tú empezaste el trabajo ayer.” — “You began work yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él empezaba a llover antes.” — “He used to begin raining before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. For example: “Yo empezaré a estudiar mañana.” — “I will begin studying tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Tú empezarías el trabajo algún día.” — “You would begin work someday.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience, formed with haber + the past participle. For example: “Él ha empezado a llover esta semana.” — “He has begun raining this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Yo había empezado a estudiar antes de la fiesta.” — “I had begun studying before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tú habrás empezado el trabajo para mañana.” — “You will have begun work by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Él habría empezado a llover ayer.” — “He would have begun raining yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. With empezar this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Es importante que yo empiece a estudiar.” — “It is important that i begin studying.”
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, and clauses after a past-tense trigger. For example: “Ojalá tú empezaras el trabajo.” — “I wish you began work.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. With empezar this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “¡Empieza a llover!” — “Begin raining!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. With empezar this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “No empieces a estudiar.” — “Do not begin studying.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with empezar, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo empiezo a estudiar todos los días.” — “I begin studying every day.”
- “Tú empezaste el trabajo ayer.” — “You began work yesterday.”
- “Él empezaba a llover antes.” — “He used to begin raining before.”
- “Yo empezaré el trabajo mañana.” — “I will begin work tomorrow.”
- “Tú empezarías a estudiar algún día.” — “You would begin studying someday.”
- “Él ha empezado a llover esta semana.” — “He has begun raining this week.”
- “Yo había empezado a estudiar antes de la fiesta.” — “I had begun studying before the party.”
- “Tú habrás empezado el trabajo para mañana.” — “You will have begun work by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él empiece a llover.” — “It is important that he begin raining.”
- “¡Empieza a estudiar!” — “Begin studying!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo empezar a estudiar.”
✓ Right: “Yo empiezo a estudiar.”
The infinitive empezar never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form empiezo.
2. Confusing empezar with comenzar
✗ Wrong: “Yo comienzo a estudiar.”
✓ Right: “Yo empiezo a estudiar.”
Empezar and comenzar both mean to begin; empezar is the more frequent form.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy empezado a estudiar.”
✓ Right: “Yo he empezado a estudiar.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle empezado.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “empece”
✓ Right: “empecé”
The accent on empecé is part of the spelling in the preterite. Without it the form looks like a different word, so always write the accent.
5. Forgetting the e → ie stem change
✗ Wrong: “Yo empezo a estudiar.”
✓ Right: “Yo empiezo a estudiar.”
empezar changes its stem vowel in the present tense (e → ie), so the yo form is empiezo, not the unchanged stem.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo empecé a estudiar antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo empezaba a estudiar antes.”
The preterite empecé describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect empezaba.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on empezar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of empezar in the Present indicative?
- A) empiezas
- B) empieza
- C) empezamos
- D) empiezo
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of empezar in the Preterite?
- A) empezaste
- B) empezamos
- C) empezó
- D) empecé
What is the nosotros/as form of empezar in the Imperfect?
- A) empezabais
- B) empezábamos
- C) empezaba
- D) empezabas
What is the tú form of empezar in the Future?
- A) empezarás
- B) empezaré
- C) empezará
- D) empezaremos
What is the yo form of empezar in the Conditional?
- A) empezarías
- B) empezaríamos
- C) empezaríais
- D) empezaría
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of empezar in the Present subjunctive?
- A) empecemos
- B) empecéis
- C) empiece
- D) empieces
What is the yo form of empezar in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) empezarais
- B) empezara
- C) empezaras
- D) empezáramos
What is the gerund of empezar?
- A) empezando
- B) contando
- C) esperando
- D) buscando
What is the past participle of empezar?
- A) contado
- B) esperado
- C) buscado
- D) empezado
What does empezar mean in English?
- A) to wait
- B) to look for
- C) to begin
- D) to tell
Answer key
- D) empiezo — the yo form of empezar in the present indicative is empiezo. The other options (empiezas, empieza, empezamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) empezó — the él/ella/Ud. form of empezar in the preterite is empezó. The other options (empecé, empezaste, empezamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) empezábamos — the nosotros/as form of empezar in the imperfect is empezábamos. The other options (empezaba, empezabas, empezaba) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) empezarás — the tú form of empezar in the future is empezarás. The other options (empezaré, empezará, empezaremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) empezaría — the yo form of empezar in the conditional is empezaría. The other options (empezarías, empezaría, empezaríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) empiece — the él/ella/Ud. form of empezar in the present subjunctive is empiece. The other options (empiece, empieces, empecemos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) empezara — the yo form of empezar in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is empezara. The other options (empezaras, empezara, empezáramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) empezando — the gerund of empezar is empezando; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) empezado — the past participle of empezar is empezado; perfect tenses use haber + empezado. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to begin — empezar means “to begin” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does empezar mean in English?
empezar means “to begin”. You use it for starting to study or work, for starting a job on a day, and for beginning to rain. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is empezar regular or irregular?
empezar is irregular — stem-changing (e → ie) — spelling-changing, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is empezando and the past participle is empezado.
What are the gerund and past participle of empezar?
The gerund is empezando — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is empezado — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he empezado (I have begun).
What is the difference between empezar and comenzar?
Empezar and comenzar both mean to begin; empezar is the more frequent form. If you are unsure, check the full table for comenzar and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I begin” in Spanish?
Say “Yo empiezo a estudiar.” — “I begin studying every day.” The yo form of the present is empiezo, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- empezar in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- empezar examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Spanish irregular verbs — every common irregular Spanish verb, grouped by pattern.
- Contar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Esperar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Buscar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Present tense guide — how the present tense works for regular verbs.
- Preterite tense guide — how the preterite works, and when to choose it over the imperfect.
- Verb Conjugator — practise empezar with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise empezar with the interactive tool.
- Subjunctive Helper — practise empezar with the interactive tool.