Log inSign up

La película empieza ahora.

La película empieza ahora.
The movie begins now.
From Lesson 29:Stem-changing verbs: e to ie·Spanish (Spain)

Breakdown of La película empieza ahora.

ahora
now
empezar
to begin
la película
the movie

Questions & Answers about La película empieza ahora.

Why is the verb spelled empieza instead of empeza?
Empieza comes from the verb empezar (to begin). It is a stem-changing verb, which means the e in the root of the word changes to ie when we conjugate it for most subjects (like I, you, and he/she/it). Because la película counts as an "it" (third-person singular), we use the ie change to get empieza.
Is the z in empieza pronounced like an English "z"?
Not in Spain! In Spanish from Spain, the letter z is pronounced with a soft "th" sound, just like the "th" in the English word "think". So, empieza sounds roughly like "em-pyeh-tha".
Why does película have a written accent mark?
The accent mark shows you exactly where to put the strongest stress when you say the word out loud. By default, Spanish words ending in a vowel stress the second-to-last syllable. The written accent on película overrides that rule, telling you to stress the lí instead of the cu: pe-LÍ-cu-la.
Can I use empieza to say a person is starting something, or is it just for events?
You can use it for both! Just like in English, an event can begin (la película empieza), and a person can begin something too, like ella empieza a estudiar (she starts to study).

Learn La película empieza ahora and more in Spanish

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Spanish →