commencer

English

Etymology

commence +‎ -er

Noun

commencer (plural commencers)

  1. One who commences.

French

Alternative forms
  • commancer (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle French commencer, from Old French comencier, from Vulgar Latin *cominitiō, *cominitiāre, from com- + Latin initiāre, present active infinitive of initiō. Compare Catalan començar, Italian cominciare, Portuguese começar, Romansch cumanzar, Spanish comenzar.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /kɔ.mɑ̃.se/
  • audio(file)

Verb

commencer

  1. to begin, commence

Conjugation

This verb is part of a group of -er verbs for which ‘c’ is softened to a ‘ç’ before the vowels ‘a’ and ‘o’.

Conjugation of commencer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
present participle commençant
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sɑ̃/
past participle commencé
/kɔ.mɑ̃.se/
infinitive
simple commencer
compound avoir + past participle
gerund1
simple commençant
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses)		 present commence
/kɔ.mɑ̃s/		 commences
/kɔ.mɑ̃s/		 commence
/kɔ.mɑ̃s/		 commençons
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sɔ̃/		 commencez
/kɔ.mɑ̃.se/		 commencent
/kɔ.mɑ̃s/
imperfect commençais
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sɛ/		 commençais
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sɛ/		 commençait
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sɛ/		 commencions
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sjɔ̃/		 commenciez
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sje/		 commençaient
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sɛ/
past historic2 commençai
/kɔ.mɑ̃.se/		 commenças
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sa/		 commença
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sa/		 commençâmes
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sam/		 commençâtes
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sat/		 commencèrent
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sɛʁ/
future commencerai
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sʁe/		 commenceras
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sʁa/		 commencera
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sʁa/		 commencerons
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sʁɔ̃/		 commencerez
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sʁe/		 commenceront
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sʁɔ̃/
conditional commencerais
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sʁɛ/		 commencerais
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sʁɛ/		 commencerait
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sʁɛ/		 commencerions
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sə.ʁjɔ̃/		 commenceriez
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sə.ʁje/		 commenceraient
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sʁɛ/
(compound
tenses)		 present perfect present indicative of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
past anterior2 past historic of avoir + past participle
future perfect future of avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive que je (j’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple
tenses)		 present commence
/kɔ.mɑ̃s/		 commences
/kɔ.mɑ̃s/		 commence
/kɔ.mɑ̃s/		 commencions
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sjɔ̃/		 commenciez
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sje/		 commencent
/kɔ.mɑ̃s/
imperfect2 commençasse
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sas/		 commençasses
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sas/		 commençât
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sa/		 commençassions
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sa.sjɔ̃/		 commençassiez
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sa.sje/		 commençassent
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sas/
(compound
tenses)		 past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — commence
/kɔ.mɑ̃s/		 — commençons
/kɔ.mɑ̃.sɔ̃/		 commencez
/kɔ.mɑ̃.se/		 —
compound — simple imperative of avoir + past participle — simple imperative of avoir + past participle simple imperative of avoir + past participle —
1 Only usable with preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, the past historic, past anterior, imperfect subjunctive and pluperfect subjunctive tenses may be found to have been replaced with the indicative present perfect, indicative pluperfect, present subjunctive and past subjunctive tenses respectively (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

Further reading

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French comencier.

Verb

commencer

  1. (transitive, intransitive) to start; to begin

Conjugation
  • As parler except c becomes ç before a and o. May remain c in older manuscripts.
  • Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
   Conjugation of commencer
simple compound
infinitive commencer avoir commencé
gerund en commençant Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle
present participle commençant
past participle commencé
person singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative ie (may be i' before a vowel) tu il nous vous ilz, elles
simple
tenses		 present commence commences commence commençons commencez commencent
imperfect commençois, commençoys commençois, commençoys commençoit, commençoyt commencions, commençons commenciez, commencyez commençoient, commençoyent
past historic commença commenças commença commençasmes commençastes commencerent
future commencerai, commenceray commenceras commencera commencerons commencerez commenceront
conditional commencerois, commenceroys commencerois, commenceroys commenceroit, commenceroyt commencerions, commenceryons commenceriez, commenceryez commenceroient, commenceroyent
compound
tenses		 present perfect Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle
pluperfect Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle
past anterior Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle
future perfect Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle
conditional perfect Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle
subjunctive que ie que tu qu'il que nous que vous qu'ilz, qu'elles
simple
tenses		 present commence commences commence commençons commencez commencent
imperfect commençasse commençasses commençast commençassions commençassiez commençassent
compound
tenses		 past Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
pluperfect Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
— commence — commençons commencez —

Descendants
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