Comincio la lezione con un saluto.

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Breakdown of Comincio la lezione con un saluto.

• con: with
• la lezione: the lesson
• cominciare: to start

Questions & Answers about Comincio la lezione con un saluto.

Why is there no io before comincio?

In Italian the subject pronoun is usually dropped because the verb ending -o in comincio already tells you it’s first-person singular. You could say Io comincio… for emphasis or contrast, but normally it’s unnecessary.

What does comincio exactly mean, and is it a reflexive verb?

Comincio is the present-tense, first-person singular of cominciare, meaning “I start” or “I begin.” It is not reflexive, so there’s no mi in front of it. A reflexive form would be cominciarsi, but that’s rare and changes the meaning (something like “to get moving”).

Is comincio the same as inizio?

Yes, cominciare and iniziare are basic synonyms meaning “to start.” In everyday speech:

• Cominciare is more colloquial.
• Iniziare can sound slightly more formal or literary.
  Either Comincio la lezione… or Inizio la lezione… works fine.

Why is la used before lezione?

You need a definite article with singular, countable nouns when talking about a specific instance. Here you mean “the lesson” (a particular lesson you’re teaching). Also, lezione ends in -ione, so it’s always feminine; hence la lezione.