começa

Começa is a form of the Portuguese verb começar, meaning to begin or to start. It is most commonly encountered as the present tense form that corresponds to ele/ela/você begins, as in ele começa, você começa, meaning “he begins” or “you begin.” In many dialects, the same spelling also serves as the informal singular imperative for tu, giving commands such as Começa! meaning “Start!” or “Begin!”

Etymology and related forms: começar comes from the Latin incipere, “to begin,” via the Romance languages. Cognates include Spanish comenzar and French commencer, reflecting a shared Latin origin.

Usage: Começa is used to indicate the onset of actions, events, or processes. It appears in contexts such as time expressions (A reunião começa às 9h – The meeting begins at 9); descriptions of events (O filme começa agora – The movie begins now); and in constructions like começar a fazer algo (to begin to do something). In narrative and everyday speech, falar de quando algo começa is common, as is comecar a + infinitive for more explicit initiation.

Morphology: Começar is the infinitive, from which various conjugated forms derive. The imperative form to address someone informally (tu) is commonly come-ça in many dialects, yielding Começa! as a direct command. Formal imperatives use comece.

Synonyms and close relatives include iniciar, dar início, and principiar. The word остаются a basic and frequently used verb in both spoken and written Portuguese, essential for discussing beginnings, timelines, and sequences.