ਲਿਖਤ ਵਿੱਚ ਸਟੈਮ ਬਦਲਦਾ ਹੈ, ਪਰ nous ਅਤੇ vous ਨੂੰ ਛੱਡ ਕੇ ਬਾਕੀ ਰੂਪ ਇੱਕੋ ਜਿਹੇ ਸੁਣਦੇ ਹਨ।
| Person | Presentnow, habits | Passé composécompleted past | Imparfaitongoing past | Futur procheabout to | Futur simplewill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| je | commencesounds the same as another form in this tense | ai commencé | commençaissounds the same as another form in this tense | vais commencer | commenceraisounds the same as another form in this tense |
| tu | commencessounds the same as another form in this tense | as commencésounds the same as another form in this tense | commençaissounds the same as another form in this tense | vas commencersounds the same as another form in this tense | commencerassounds the same as another form in this tense |
| il/elle | commencesounds the same as another form in this tense | a commencésounds the same as another form in this tense | commençaitsounds the same as another form in this tense | va commencersounds the same as another form in this tense | commencerasounds the same as another form in this tense |
| nous | commençons | avons commencé | commencions | allons commencer | commenceronssounds the same as another form in this tense |
| vous | commencez | avez commencé | commenciez | allez commencer | commencerezsounds the same as another form in this tense |
| ils/elles | commencentsounds the same as another form in this tense | ont commencé | commençaientsounds the same as another form in this tense | vont commencer | commencerontsounds the same as another form in this tense |
Now, and habits. commence covers both "I begin" and "I am begining" — French has no separate continuous form.
A completed past action. avoir conjugates and commencé does not — ai commencé.
An ongoing or habitual past. Built on the nous-present stem, so commençons gives you commençais.
About to happen. aller conjugates; commencer never moves — the easier future to produce under pressure.
Will happen. Built on commencer-, which is just the infinitive, so only the endings are new.
Three more forms worth knowing
Not among the five TEF/TCF-scored tenses above, but common past A1–A2.
Passé récentjust happened
| je | viens de commencer |
|---|---|
| tu | viens de commencer |
| il/elle | vient de commencer |
| nous | venons de commencer |
| vous | venez de commencer |
| ils/elles | viennent de commencer |
Impératifcommands — no je/il/ils form
| tu | commence |
|---|---|
| nous | commençons |
| vous | commencez |
Gérondifwhile doing — one invariant form
en commençant
What this table tells you about commencer
The past participle is commencé, and it takes avoir in the passé composé — so it never changes shape, whoever the subject is. No agreement to remember here.
The futur simple is built on commencer-, which is just the infinitive — the endings are the whole story, nothing new to learn for this tense.
In both the present and the imparfait, je, tu, il/elle and ils/elles are one sound: commence, commences, commencent — indistinguishable spoken. Only nous and vous carry an audible ending.
commencer softens its stem before a hard vowel, which is why the imparfait reads commençais but commencions. The change follows the ending, not the stem — nous is always the exception.