Questions & Answers about ¿Por qué no empiezas a jugar tenis con nosotros?
Why does the Spanish sentence use jugar (to play) instead of an -ing word for "playing"?
Do I always need the a between empiezas and the next verb?
Yes! Whenever you say you are starting to do something, the formula is empezar a + infinitive. You cannot skip the a. Note: If you just start a thing, like a game or a movie, you don't need the a (for example, empiezas el juego).
Why is it spelled empiezas instead of empezas?
The infinitive verb is empezar, but it is a stem-changing verb. In the present tense, the second e changes to ie for most subjects, including the tú (you) form. That gives us empiezas.