Présent
Present
What happens now or regularly: je parle français.
French verb conjugation
Commencer conjugation
Commencer — “to begin, to start”. Every tense with audio: tap a form to hear it, or the speaker to hear the whole tense.
- Translation
- to begin, to start
- Group
- 1st group (-er)
- Participe passé
- commencé
- Passé composé with avoir
- j’ai commencé
Commencer in every tense
Il / elle and ils / elles share the same forms. With être the participle agrees with the subject: (e) for the feminine, (e)s for the plural.
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Passé composé
Perfect (completed past)
What happened and is over: hier, j’ai vu un film. The main past tense of speech.
Imparfait
Imperfect (ongoing past)
Description, habit or background in the past: quand j’étais petit, je jouais au foot.
Futur simple
Future
What will be: demain, il fera beau. In speech aller + infinitive often replaces it.
Conditionnel présent
Conditional
Polite requests and imagined situations: je voudrais un café ; si j’avais le temps, je voyagerais.
Subjonctif présent
Subjunctive
After wishes, necessity and feelings: il faut que tu viennes. Always after que.
Impératif
Imperative
Requests, advice, orders: viens ! écoutez !
What to know
Before -a and -o the c becomes ç to keep the [s] sound: nous commençons, je commençais. The same with lancer, avancer, prononcer.
Examples
- Le cours commence à neuf heures.The class starts at nine.
- Nous commençons demain.We start tomorrow.
- Il commençait à pleuvoir.It was starting to rain.
Practice
A person and a tense — choose the right form of commencer. 10 questions.
Choose the form
FAQ
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How do you conjugate commencer in the présent?
je commence, tu commences, il/elle commence, nous commençons, vous commencez, ils/elles commencent.
Does commencer take avoir or être in the passé composé?
Avoir: j’ai commencé, tu as commencé, il/elle a commencé, nous avons commencé, vous avez commencé, ils/elles ont commencé.
What is commencer in the imparfait?
je commençais, tu commençais, il/elle commençait, nous commencions, vous commenciez, ils/elles commençaient.
What is commencer in the futur simple?
je commencerai, tu commenceras, il/elle commencera, nous commencerons, vous commencerez, ils/elles commenceront.
What’s next
French irregular verbs
The présent, passé composé and futur of irregular verbs in one table — with search and practice.
Open the table50 most common French words
The 50 most common French words with audio, examples and exercises.
See the wordsFrench level test
Grammar, vocabulary and reading from A1 to C1 — and your level of French.
Take the test
Grammar for this topic
Rules in plain words — with tables, examples and a quiz in every topic.
The présent tense
Je parle, nous finissons, vous faites — the endings of the three verb groups and the key irregulars.
Level A1Passé composé or imparfait
Two past tenses: what happened — and what it was like, what was going on.
Level A2–B1Futur proche and futur simple
Two ways to talk about the future: je vais partir and je partirai.
Level A1–A2The subjonctif: il faut que…
Il faut que tu viennes, je veux qu’il soit là — how to form the subjunctive and which words trigger it.
Level B1
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