La operación empezó temprano.

Spanish often uses the definite article el / la / los / las more than English does.

Here, la operación means the operation. In English, depending on context, you might say either the operation or just operation, but in Spanish the article is usually kept.

Also, operación is a specific noun, so la sounds natural unless you are speaking in a very general or headline-like style.

Examples:

• La reunión empezó temprano. = The meeting started early.
• La clase terminó tarde. = The class finished late.

Because operación is a feminine noun, so it takes la.

A very useful pattern is that many nouns ending in -ción are feminine:

• la operación
• la conversación
• la situación
• la información

So if you see a noun ending in -ción, it is very often feminine.

This is a very common question.

The verb is empezar. In the present tense, it is stem-changing:

• empiezo
• empiezas
• empieza

But in the preterite, -ar verbs like empezar do not keep that e → ie change.

So:

• Present: empieza = it starts / begins
• Preterite: empezó = it started / began

This is why empiezó is incorrect.

A quick comparison:

• Hoy empieza temprano. = Today it starts early.
• Ayer empezó temprano. = Yesterday it started early.

The accent marks show which syllable is stressed.

• operación → stress on the final syllable: ope-ra-CIÓN
• empezó → stress on the final syllable: em-pe-ZÓ

Without the written accent, the stress would follow normal spelling rules and would sound wrong.

For learners, the important thing is:

• operación is pronounced with the stress at the end
• empezó is also stressed at the end

In Spain, the z in empezó is pronounced like the th in think, so roughly:

• em-pe-THO

Because empezó is the preterite, which is used for a completed event.

La operación empezó temprano presents the start as a single finished action:

• it started
• that moment of beginning is viewed as complete

If you used empezaba, that would be the imperfect, which usually describes background, repeated actions, or something in progress from a past viewpoint.

Compare:

• La operación empezó temprano. = It started early.
  A specific completed beginning.
• La operación empezaba temprano todos los días. = It used to start early every day.
  Repeated/habitual in the past.

So for one particular operation starting at a particular time, empezó is the natural choice.

Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb ending already gives information.

In empezó, the ending -ó tells you it is:

• third person singular in the preterite

So the sentence does not need a separate subject pronoun. The subject is understood from context, and here it is the noun phrase la operación.

Spanish usually avoids unnecessary pronouns:

• La operación empezó temprano. not normally
• La operación ella empezó temprano.

You only add a pronoun when you want emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

Here, temprano is an adverb, meaning early.

It tells us when the operation started:

• empezó temprano = started early

The interesting thing is that temprano can also be an adjective:

• una hora temprana = an early hour

But in this sentence, it modifies the verb empezó, so it works as an adverb.

Compare:

• Llegó temprano. = He/She arrived early.
  adverb
• La hora era temprana. = The hour was early.
  adjective

Yes. Operación can mean different things depending on context, just like operation in English.

Common meanings include:

• a medical operation / surgery
• a military operation
• a business or technical operation
• a mathematical operation

So La operación empezó temprano could refer to different situations, depending on the context already given.

Yes. Comenzó and empezó are both good translations of started / began.

• La operación empezó temprano.
• La operación comenzó temprano.

Both are correct and natural. In many contexts, they are interchangeable.

Very generally:

• empezar is extremely common in everyday speech
• comenzar can sound a little more formal or slightly more literary in some contexts

But both are standard Spanish, including in Spain.

The normal, neutral order is:

La operación empezó temprano.

That is the most natural way to say it.

But Spanish word order is more flexible than English, so other orders are possible for emphasis or style, for example:

• Temprano empezó la operación.
• La operación temprano empezó.

These are much less neutral and would usually sound literary, emphatic, or marked. For a learner, the safest and most natural order is the original one:

• La operación empezó temprano.