empezar
Spanish, verb/empeˈθaɾ/
empezar is spelled E-M-P-E-Z-A-R (7 letters) and appears 105 times per million words in written Spanish, the 844th most frequent Spanish word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Empezar is a Spanish verb meaning “to start, begin, to get started” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) defines it as “Iniciar una acción”.
What does empezar mean in English?
verb
- 1
to start, begin, to get started
- 2
to start
Hace poco que empezó a comer vegetales.
- 3
to start
Sugiero que empecemos por reconocer que necesitamos más ayuda.
- 4
to start, to begin
En español, pocas palabras empiezan por la letra ñ.
- 5
to lead, to open
- 6
to be started
Source: English Wiktionary, Spanish section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Spanish dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Iniciar una acción.
verb: 1. Entrar en una nueva situación. 2. Estar al inicio de un periodo de tiempo. 3. Estar al inicio de un objeto largo.
The definition in the Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), in Spanish.
Source: Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of empezar
- empiezo first-person present singular
- empecé first-person preterite singular
- empezado participle past
- e-ie alternation
- c-z alternation
- empezando gerund
- empezada feminine participle past
- empezados masculine participle past
- empezadas feminine participle past
- empiezas indicative informal present
- empezás indicative informal present
- empieza indicative present singular
- empezamos first-person indicative plural
- empezáis indicative plural present
- empiezan indicative plural present
- empezaba first-person imperfect indicative
- empezabas imperfect indicative second-person
- empezábamos first-person imperfect indicative
Source: English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce empezar?
- /empeˈθaɾ/
- [ẽm.peˈθaɾ]
- /empeˈsaɾ/
Sources: English Wiktionary, Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to empezar
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is empezar in Spanish?
empezar appears 105 times per million words in written Spanish.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).