commencé

Commencé is the past participle of the French verb commencer, which means to begin or to start. It is used with the auxiliary avoir to form compound tenses (for example, passé composé: j’ai commencé) and can also function as an adjective meaning something that has been begun or started.

As a regular -er verb, commencer follows the standard conjugation pattern with one orthographic note: in the present tense, the first-person plural form is nous commençons, written with a cedilla to maintain the soft [s] sound before the -o. The stem is commen-, and the past participle is commencé. The feminine singular form is commencée, the masculine plural commencés, and the feminine plural commencées.

Usage and agreement: with avoir as the auxiliary, the participle commenced does not usually change to reflect the subject. However, it agrees in gender and number with a preceding direct object. Examples: j’ai commencé le livre (no agreement because the DO comes after the verb), les livres que j’ai commencés (agreement with masculine plural DO). When used as an adjective after a noun, it agrees fully: un travail commencé, des projets commencés, une tâche commencée.

Etymology: the verb commencer comes from Old French comencier/comencer, itself from Latin incipere with a prefix co- (com-), meaning to begin or to take up. The past participle form commencé reflects the evolution of the verb through French toward its modern usage.

In summary, commencé functions primarily as the past participle of commencer for forming past tenses and as an adjective describing something that has been started, with standard agreement rules applying when used adjectivally or when a preceding direct object governs participle agreement.