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Conjugation of the French verb commencer

A list of the common conjugations for the French verb commencer, along with their English translations.

commencer is a regular verb with spelling changes

Verb phrases

Infinitive		Scored
commencer	to start

Present		Scored
je commence	I start
tu commences	you start
il commence	he starts
elle commence	she starts
nous commençons	we start
vous commencez	you start
ils commencent	they start
elles commencent	they start

Imperfect		Scored
je commençais	I was starting
tu commençais	you were starting
il commençait	he was starting
elle commençait	she was starting
nous commencions	we were starting
vous commenciez	you were starting
ils commençaient	they were starting
elles commençaient	they were starting

Past Historic / Passé Simple This is a literary tense, i.e. a tense used in writing, in everyday speech the Passé Composé is used to refer to past actions.		Scored
je commençai	I started
tu commenças	you started
il commença	he started
elle commença	she started
nous commençâmes	we started
vous commençâtes	you started
ils commencèrent	they started
elles commencèrent	they started

Passé Composé		Scored
j'ai commencé	I started
tu as commencé	you started
il a commencé	he started
elle a commencé	she started
nous avons commencé	we started
vous avez commencé	you started
ils ont commencé	they started
elles ont commencé	they started

Pluperfect / Plus-que-parfait		Scored
j'avais commencé	I had started
tu avais commencé	you had started
il avait commencé	he had started
elle avait commencé	she had started
nous avions commencé	we had started
vous aviez commencé	you had started
ils avaient commencé	they had started
elles avaient commencé	they had started

Future		Scored
je commencerai	I will start
tu commenceras	you will start
il commencera	he will start
elle commencera	she will start
nous commencerons	we will start
vous commencerez	you will start
ils commenceront	they will start
elles commenceront	they will start

Future Perfect / Futur antérieur The French Future Perfect or Futur antérieur is made with the future tense of avoir or être and the past participle of the verb. The past participle agrees with the subject for verbs that take être, or with the direct object for verbs that take avoir.		Scored
j'aurai commencé	I will have started
tu auras commencé	you will have started
il aura commencé	he will have started
elle aura commencé	she will have started
nous aurons commencé	we will have started
vous aurez commencé	you will have started
ils auront commencé	they will have started
elles auront commencé	they will have started

Conditional		Scored
je commencerais	I would start
tu commencerais	you would start
il commencerait	he would start
elle commencerait	she would start
nous commencerions	we would start
vous commenceriez	you would start
ils commenceraient	they would start
elles commenceraient	they would start

Conditional Perfect / Conditionnel passé The French Conditional Perfect (the past conditional) or Conditionnel passé is made with the conditional tense of avoir or être and the past participle of the verb. The past participle agrees with the subject for verbs that take être, or with the direct object for verbs that take avoir.		Scored
j'aurais commencé	I would have started
tu aurais commencé	you would have started
il aurait commencé	he would have started
elle aurait commencé	she would have started
nous aurions commencé	we would have started
vous auriez commencé	you would have started
ils auraient commencé	they would have started
elles auraient commencé	they would have started

Present Subjunctive		Scored
(... que) je commence	(... that) I start
(... que) tu commences	(... that) you start
(... que) il commence	(... that) he starts
(... que) elle commence	(... that) she starts
(... que) nous commencions	(... that) we start
(... que) vous commenciez	(... that) you start
(... que) ils commencent	(... that) they start
(... que) elles commencent	(... that) they start

Imperfect Subjunctive		Scored
(... que) je commençasse	(... that) I was starting
(... que) tu commençasses	(... that) you were starting
(... que) il commençât	(... that) he was starting
(... que) elle commençât	(... that) she was starting
(... que) nous commençassions	(... that) we were starting
(... que) vous commençassiez	(... that) you were starting
(... que) ils commençassent	(... that) they were starting
(... que) elles commençassent	(... that) they were starting

Imperative		Scored
commence	Start
commençons	Let's start
commencez	Start

Present Participle		Scored
commençant	starting

Past Participle		Scored
commencé	started

Regular conjugation

Irregular conjugation

Spelling change

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