commencer
to beginStem-changing -erਲਿਖਤ ਵਿੱਚ ਸਟੈਮ ਬਦਲਦਾ ਹੈ, ਪਰ nous ਅਤੇ vous ਨੂੰ ਛੱਡ ਕੇ ਬਾਕੀ ਰੂਪ ਇੱਕੋ ਜਿਹੇ ਸੁਣਦੇ ਹਨ।
| Person | Presentnow, habits | Passé composécompleted past | Imparfaitongoing past | Futur procheabout to | Futur simplewill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| je | commencesounds the same as another form in this tense | ai commencé | commençaissounds the same as another form in this tense | vais commencer | commenceraisounds the same as another form in this tense |
| tu | commencessounds the same as another form in this tense | as commencésounds the same as another form in this tense | commençaissounds the same as another form in this tense | vas commencersounds the same as another form in this tense | commencerassounds the same as another form in this tense |
| il/elle | commencesounds the same as another form in this tense | a commencésounds the same as another form in this tense | commençaitsounds the same as another form in this tense | va commencersounds the same as another form in this tense | commencerasounds the same as another form in this tense |
| nous | commençons | avons commencé | commencions | allons commencer | commenceronssounds the same as another form in this tense |
| vous | commencez | avez commencé | commenciez | allez commencer | commencerezsounds the same as another form in this tense |
| ils/elles | commencentsounds the same as another form in this tense | ont commencé | commençaientsounds the same as another form in this tense | vont commencer | commencerontsounds the same as another form in this tense |
Now, and habits. commence covers both "I begin" and "I am begining" — French has no separate continuous form.
A completed past action. avoir conjugates and commencé does not — ai commencé.
An ongoing or habitual past. Built on the nous-present stem, so commençons gives you commençais.
About to happen. aller conjugates; commencer never moves — the easier future to produce under pressure.
Will happen. Built on commencer-, which is just the infinitive, so only the endings are new.
What this table tells you about commencer
The past participle is commencé, and it takes avoir in the passé composé — so it never changes shape, whoever the subject is. No agreement to remember here.
The futur simple is built on commencer-, which is just the infinitive — the endings are the whole story, nothing new to learn for this tense.
In both the present and the imparfait, je, tu, il/elle and ils/elles are one sound: commence, commences, commencent — indistinguishable spoken. Only nous and vous carry an audible ending.
commencer softens its stem before a hard vowel, which is why the imparfait reads commençais but commencions. The change follows the ending, not the stem — nous is always the exception.