Komenci: To Begin | Esperanto Grammar

Komenci means “to begin” or “to start,” but unlike English it is fundamentally transitive: its subject causes the beginning of an object or an activity. When an event itself enters its opening phase, Esperanto normally uses komenciĝi. Compare la prezidanto komencis la kunvenon “the chair began the meeting” with la kunveno komenciĝis “the meeting began.”

Complete regular paradigm

Form	Function	Typical meaning
komenci	infinitive	to begin something
komencas	present indicative	begin(s), is beginning
komencis	past indicative	began
komencos	future indicative	will begin
komencus	conditional	would begin
komencu	volitive	begin; let ... begin

The stem komenc- remains unchanged and the verb never agrees with its subject. The conditional presents a hypothetical beginning; the volitive can be a command, invitation, or third-person wish.

Mi komencas la labortagon per mallonga kontrolo de miaj mesaĝoj.

I begin the workday with a quick check of my messages.

Ni komencus pli frue, se ĉiuj jam ĉeestus.

We would begin earlier if everyone were already present.

Komencu sen mi; mi aliĝos post kvin minutoj.

Start without me; I'll join in five minutes.

Beginning a noun-denoted activity or thing

The thing whose beginning is deliberately caused is a direct object and takes accusative -n. Typical objects include laboron, kurson, projekton, diskuton, and novan ĉapitron.

La urbo komencos la renovigon de la ponto en Aprilo.

The city will begin the renovation of the bridge in April.

Ŝi komencis novan ĉapitron, sed ne sukcesis fini ĝin antaŭ enlitiĝo.

She started a new chapter but didn't manage to finish it before bedtime.

English permits “start” both with and without an object. Esperanto asks which participant controls the opening. If an organizer initiates the activity, use komenci ion. If the activity itself becomes underway, use io komenciĝas.

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Test the roles with two questions: “Who initiates something?” → komenci. “What itself comes into progress?” → komenciĝi.

An infinitive as the activity begun

Instead of a noun object, komenci can take an infinitive describing what the subject starts doing. The understood subject of both verbs is normally the same.

Post longa paŭzo la infanoj komencis demandi, kiam ni alvenos.

After a long break, the children began asking when we would arrive.

Mi ĵus komencis lerni la japanan kaj ankoraŭ legas tre malrapide.

I've just started learning Japanese and still read very slowly.

No preposition is inserted before the infinitive: komenci labori, not an English-shaped construction with al or por. The infinitive fills the same semantic slot as a noun object: it names the activity whose opening phase is caused by the subject.

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After komenci, place the infinitive directly and normally let it inherit the main subject: mi komencis legi means that I began and I did the reading.

The compact impersonal-looking pattern komencis pluvi is also standard. Here the weather event is presented directly through the infinitive; there is no person deliberately initiating the rain.

Ni apenaŭ atingis la haltejon, kiam komencis pluvi.

We had barely reached the stop when it began to rain.

When the event begins: komenciĝi

The suffix -iĝ- makes an intransitive change-of-state verb. Its subject is the event or period entering its beginning; there is no direct object.

La koncerto komenciĝos je la oka, kaj la pordoj malfermiĝos unu horon pli frue.

The concert will begin at eight, and the doors will open one hour earlier.

Nova diskuto komenciĝis post kiam la komitato publikigis la raporton.

A new discussion began after the committee published the report.

Do not treat -iĝ- as ornamental. La filmo komencis prompts the question “What did the film begin?” La filmo komenciĝis says that the film itself started. An event can exceptionally be the subject of transitive komenci when it initiates something else: La invento komencis novan epokon means the invention began a new era.

See Transitive and Intransitive Verbs for the same role contrast across the wider verb system.

Complements of time and manner

Clock time commonly uses je: komenci je la naŭa or komenciĝi je la naŭa. A starting point in a sequence can use per, while a topic can be introduced with per diskuto pri... or by making the topic the object.

Ni komencu per la plej urĝa demando kaj lasu la buĝeton por poste.

Let's begin with the most urgent question and leave the budget until later.

— Kiam komenciĝas la reta seminario? — Je la sesa laŭ via horzono.

— When does the online seminar begin? — At six in your time zone.

The prepositions express real relations: je gives clock time and per identifies the first means or item. They do not replace the direct object of transitive komenci.

Participles and voice

Transitive komenci allows both active and passive participles:

Relation	Active	Passive
in progress/repeated	komencanta	komencata
completed beginning	komencinta	komencita
still prospective	komenconta	komencota

La jam komencita laboro ne perdiĝos eĉ se ni ŝanĝos la planon.

The work already begun will not be lost even if we change the plan.

Komencinte la prezenton per demando, ŝi tuj kaptis la atenton de la publiko.

Having begun the presentation with a question, she immediately caught the audience's attention.

For an event that itself is beginning, use the active participle of komenciĝi: la komenciĝanta koncerto. Passive forms such as komenciĝita are impossible in the normal system because every -iĝ- verb is intransitive.

Productive family and conventional uses

komenco — beginning;
komence — initially, at first;
dekomence — from the beginning;
rekomenci — begin again, restart something;
rekomenciĝi — start again by itself;
komencanto — beginner;
komenca — initial, introductory.

Post la teknika paneo la moderanto rekomencis la elsendon ĉe la lasta demando.

After the technical failure, the host restarted the broadcast from the last question.

La kurso estas destinita al komencantoj, kiuj ankoraŭ ne konas la participojn.

The course is intended for beginners who do not yet know the participles.

Komencanto is a highly conventional noun: structurally it is an active participle noun, but lexically it usually means a beginner in a field, not merely anyone beginning one isolated action.

Frequency, register, and status

Komenci and komenciĝi are frequent and neutral across conversation, journalism, instruction, and (formal) prose. The root komenc- is Fundamental. The transitive/intransitive distinction is not a recent prescriptive preference: it follows the productive -iĝ- system and is robustly attested. Word order varies, but pedagogically the safest active use is persono komencas aferon/fari ion versus afero komenciĝas.

Common Mistakes

Copying English ambitransitive “start”

❌ La kunveno komencos post dek minutoj.

Incorrect for the meeting itself beginning — bare komenci expects something it initiates.

✅ La kunveno komenciĝos post dek minutoj.

The meeting will begin in ten minutes.

Omitting accusative from the noun object

❌ Ni komencis nova projekto hieraŭ.

Incorrect — the project is the direct object.

✅ Ni komencis novan projekton hieraŭ.

We started a new project yesterday.

Adding a preposition before the infinitive

❌ Ŝi komencis al klarigi la problemon.

Incorrect — komenci takes the infinitive directly.

✅ Ŝi komencis klarigi la problemon.

She began explaining the problem.

Giving komenciĝi a direct object

❌ La direktoro komenciĝis la ceremonion.

Incorrect — komenciĝi is intransitive.

✅ La direktoro komencis la ceremonion.

The director began the ceremony.

Key Takeaways

Komenci is regular and transitive: someone or something initiates an object or infinitive activity.
Komenciĝi is intransitive: the event itself enters its beginning.
Use je for clock time and per for the first item or means.
Rekomenci and komencanto are frequent conventional members of the same transparent family.

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