French Word of the Day
commencer
/com-men-CER/ • verb — 30th of May, 2026
Listen to pronunciation
Meaning: to begin; to start
Examples
- Le cours commence à neuf heures.
(The class starts at nine o'clock.) - Nous avons commencé le projet la semaine dernière.
(We started the project last week.) - Commence par lire l'introduction avant de continuer.
(Start by reading the introduction before continuing.)
Synonyms
Click a synonym to see how it compares to commencer.
Use commencer to talk about starting events, actions or processes. Common constructions: "commencer à + infinitive" (e.g., commencer à travailler) and "commencer par + noun/infinitive" (to start by doing something). Conjugated frequently in everyday speech (je commence, tu commences, il/elle commence, nous commençons, etc.).
Recent Words
| Date | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-29 | arriver | to arrive; to happen or occur |
| 2026-05-28 | mettre | to put/place; also to put on (clothes), to set (a ... |
| 2026-05-27 | manger | to eat (to consume food) |
| 2026-05-26 | prendre | To take; used for physically taking something, con... |
| 2026-05-25 | essayer | to try; to attempt; to try on (clothes); to test |
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