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começar

Portuguese, verb/ko.meˈsa(ʁ)/

começar is spelled C-O-M-E-Ç-A-R (7 letters) and appears 186 times per million words in written Portuguese, the 503rd most frequent Portuguese word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Começar is a Portuguese verb meaning “to start; to begin; to commence” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) defines it as “dar início a alguma coisa”.

What does começar mean in English?

verb

  1. 1

    to start; to begin; to commence

    Fique quieto, o filme já vai começar!

  2. 2

    to begin; to start to do

    Vou começar a lição de inglês falando sobre verbos irregulares.

  3. 3

    to start; to initiate (to cause something to begin)

    Aperte play para começar o vídeo.

  4. 4

    to begin

    Um pirralho começou a gritar.

  5. 5

    to begin (to have a first experience)

    Não sei cozinhar ainda, mas comecei com alguns pratos simples.

Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How Portuguese dictionaries define it

verb: 1. dar início a alguma coisa 2. ter começo ou princípio 3. começar sob determinada condição ou situação, modo de ser

The definition in the Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), in Portuguese.

Source: Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.

Forms of começar

  • começo first-person present singular
  • comecei first-person preterite singular
  • começado participle past
  • c-ç alternation
  • começares infinitive second-person singular
  • começarmos first-person infinitive plural
  • começardes infinitive plural second-person
  • começarem infinitive plural third-person
  • começando gerund
  • começados masculine participle past
  • começada feminine participle past
  • começadas feminine participle past
  • começas indicative present second-person
  • começa indicative present singular
  • começamos first-person indicative plural
  • começais indicative plural present
  • começam indicative plural present
  • começava first-person imperfect indicative

Source: English Wiktionary and Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).

How do you pronounce começar?

  • Brazil /ko.meˈsa(ʁ)/
  • Brazil [ko.meˈsa(h)]
  • /ko.meˈsa(ɾ)/

Sources: English Wiktionary, Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.

English words that translate to começar

Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.

How common is começar in Portuguese?

começar appears 186 times per million words in written Portuguese.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

What to look up after começar