Empezar Conjugation | How to Conjugate Empezar in Spanish

¡Hola! ¿Quieres empezar a aprender español? In this article, I’ll show you all the conjugations of the verb empezar. You’ll learn how to conjugate empezar in the different Spanish tenses, and we’ll also see some example sentences to help you practice.

Empezar means “to begin” or “to start.” This slightly irregular verb is used to indicate when an event is starting or when someone is beginning to do something. It can be used with tangible and intangible objects like feelings and the weather. For example, you can use empezar to say, “Está empezando a llover,” which means, “It’s starting to rain.”

The table below shows three common conjugations of the verb empezar: the infinitive, the gerund, and the past participle.

Here are three example sentences that use the conjugations of empezar from the table above:

• Infinitive: Para empezar a usar la máquina, presione el botón. (To begin using the machine, press the button.)
• Gerund: Estoy empezando a pensar que este no es el camino correcto. (I’m beginning to think this is not the right path)
• Past Participle: La competencia debió haber empezado hace una hora. (The competition should have begun an hour ago.)

Now, we will learn all the conjugations for empezar. The table below shows the different Spanish verb tenses. You can click on each one of them to see empezar conjugated in that tense.

How to Conjugate Empezar in Indicative Tense

In Spanish, we use the indicative mood to talk about facts, habits, or descriptions. This is one of the most common moods and you will find it in statements about the past, present, and future. We’ll study these indicative tenses: present, future, preterite, imperfect, and conditional.

Indicative Present

The indicative present tense lets us describe present and future events. In the case of the verb empezar, we can use its indicative present conjugations to tell others what action or event begins at the current time. For example, you can say, “Ella empieza su presentación con un saludo” which means, “She begins her presentation with a greeting.”

Here’s the conjugation chart for empezar in the indicative present tense:

Pronoun	Empezar Conjugation	English Meaning
Yo	empiezo	I begin
Tú	empiezas	You begin
Vos	empezás	You begin
Él/Ella/Usted	empieza	He/She begins, You begin
Nosotros	empezamos	We begin
Vosotros	empezáis	You begin
Ellos/Ellas/ Ustedes	empiezan	They/You begin

Here are some example sentences showing how to conjugate empezar in the indicative present tense:

• Tú empiezas tus tareas temprano. / You begin your homework early.
• Ustedes empiezan a trabajar hoy. / You begin to work today.
• Ella empieza su viaje esta tarde. / She begins her journey this afternoon.

Return to Conjugation Table

Indicative Future

We use the indicative future tense to talk about events that will take place at a later time. You can use empezar in this tense to point out when something will begin. For example, you can say, “A las 3:00 pm, él empezará el programa,” which means, “At 3:00 pm, he will begin the program.” 

You can find the conjugation chart for empezar in the indicative future tense below:

Pronoun	Empezar Conjugation	English Meaning
Yo	empezaré	I will begin
Tú	empezarás	You will begin
Vos	empezarás	You will begin
Él/Ella/Usted	empezará	He/She/You will begin
Nosotros	empezaremos	We will begin
Vosotros	empezaréis	You will begin
Ellos/Ellas/ Ustedes	empezarán	They/You will begin

Here are some example sentences sho