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comenzar

to begin; to start

verb koh-mehn-SAHR Common

Usage Note

Comenzar is a stem-changing verb (e→ie: comienza) and also has a spelling change in the preterite first-person singular: comencé (not comenzé) to preserve the soft 's' sound before -é. It is slightly more formal than empezar, which is its near-synonym; both take a + infinitive to indicate the start of an action (comenzar a llover).

Examples

"La reunión comienza a las nueve."

Natural Translation

The meeting begins at nine.

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