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¿Él empieza el negocio contigo?

¿Él empieza el negocio contigo?
Does he start the business with you?
From Lesson 37:Stem-changing verbs (e to ie)·Spanish (Latin America)

Breakdown of ¿Él empieza el negocio contigo?

él
he
contigo
with you
empezar
to start / to begin
el negocio
the business

Questions & Answers about ¿Él empieza el negocio contigo?

Why is it empieza instead of "empeza"?
The verb for "to start" is empezar. It is a stem-changing verb, which means the vowel in the root of the word changes when you conjugate it. For empezar, that first e turns into ie, giving us empieza for "he starts".
Do all forms of empezar get this ie change?
Almost all of them, but the nosotros (we) form is a major exception. It keeps the original e from the infinitive, so "we start" is empezamos. The ie change happens for yo, tú, él, ella, usted, and all plural "they/you all" forms.
Why is "with you" written as the single word contigo?
Normally, the word for "with" is con. However, when you want to say "with you" (informal), Spanish combines con and the pronoun ti into the special fused word contigo. Another one you will see often is conmigo, meaning "with me".
Why is there no Spanish word for "Does" at the beginning of this question?
Spanish does not use helper words like "do" or "does" to form questions. You simply take the normal statement for "He starts" (Él empieza), add the question marks, and raise the pitch of your voice at the end of the question.

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