commencer
French, verb/kɔ.mɑ̃.se/
commencer is spelled C-O-M-M-E-N-C-E-R (9 letters) and appears 85 times per million words in written French, the 982nd most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Commencer is a French verb meaning “to begin, commence” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Engager une action, entreprendre une tâche, donner à une chose un commencement d’existence”.
What does commencer mean in English?
verb
- 1
to begin, commence
Ça commence à m’énerver.
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Engager une action, entreprendre une tâche, donner à une chose un commencement d’existence. 2. Entrer dans un nouvel état, dans une nouvelle situation. 3. Être au début d'une période de temps. 4. Être encore dans les premiers temps d'une période déterminée.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of commencer
- avoir + past participle infinitive multiword-construction
- commençant gerund participle present
- ayant + past participle gerund multiword-construction participle
- commencé participle past
- commence first-person indicative present
- commences indicative present second-person
- commençons first-person indicative plural
- commencez indicative plural present
- commencent indicative plural present
- commençais first-person imperfect indicative
- commençait imperfect indicative singular
- commencions first-person imperfect indicative
- commenciez imperfect indicative plural
- commençaient imperfect indicative plural
- commençai first-person historic indicative
- commenças historic indicative past
- commença historic indicative past
- commençâmes first-person historic indicative
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce commencer?
- /kɔ.mɑ̃.se/
- \kɔ.mɑ̃.se\
- [kɔ.mɑ̃.se]
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to commencer
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is commencer in French?
commencer appears 85 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).