empiezo

Empiezo is the first-person singular present indicative form of the Spanish verb empezar, meaning “I begin” or “I start.” It is used to indicate the speaker is initiating an action in the present or near future, often with an infinitive: “empiezo a estudiar” (I start studying). The verb empezar is a stem-changing verb; in the present tense the stem changes from e to ie in most forms, yielding empiezo, empiezas, empieza, empezamos, empezáis, empiezan. The nosotros form manteins the regular spelling as empezamos. The yo form is empiezo, while the tú form is empiezas, and the third-person forms are empieza and empiezan.

Beyond the present, empezar has the preterite empecé, the imperfect empezaba, and the future empezaré. The present subjunctive is empiece, empieces, empiece, empecemos, empecéis, empiecen. The imperative forms include empieza (tú), empiece (usted), empecemos (nosotros), empezad (vosotros), empiecen (ustedes).

Empiezo is used widely in everyday speech across Spanish-speaking regions. It frequently appears in constructions with a to-infinitive to convey the onset of an activity: “Empiezo a correr,” “Empiezo a trabajar mañana.” In many contexts empezar and comenzar are near-synonymous; empezar tends to signal the act of beginning, while comenzar can be more formal or literary.

Etymology traces the verb to Old Spanish and it is closely related to other Romance verbs meaning “to begin.” The exact historical development is debated, but empezar sits within the broader family of verbs used to indicate initiation in Spanish. See also: empezar, comenzar, iniciar.