commencer
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Noun[edit]
commencer (plural commencers)
- One who commences.
French[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Inherited from Middle French commencer, from Old French comencier, from Vulgar Latin *cominitiāre.
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
commencer
Conjugation[edit]
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)
| infinitive | simple | commencer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | commençant /kɔ.mɑ̃.sɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | commencé /kɔ.mɑ̃.se/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | 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 | – | – | – | ||||
| 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 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Derived terms[edit]
- c’est quand le jeu devient dur que les durs commencent à jouer
- charité bien ordonnée commence par soi-même
- commencement
- ça commence à bien faire
- pour commencer
- tout est bien qui finit bien
Related terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “commencer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old French comencier.
Verb[edit]
commencer
- (transitive, intransitive) to start; to begin
Conjugation[edit]
- 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
| infinitive | simple | commencer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle1 or gerund2 | simple | commençant | |||||
| compound | present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | commencé | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | ie (i’) | tu | il, elle | 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 | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que ie (i’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | 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 | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | commence | — | commençons | commencez | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679. | |||||||
| 2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180). | |||||||
Descendants[edit]
- French: commencer (see there for further descendants)
Categories:
- English terms suffixed with -er (agent noun)
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- French terms inherited from Middle French
- French terms derived from Middle French
- French terms inherited from Old French
- French terms derived from Old French
- French terms inherited from Vulgar Latin
- French terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- French 3-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- French lemmas
- French verbs
- French verbs with conjugation -cer
- French first group verbs
- Middle French terms inherited from Old French
- Middle French terms derived from Old French
- Middle French lemmas
- Middle French verbs
- Middle French transitive verbs
- Middle French intransitive verbs
- Middle French first group verbs