Breakdown of ¿Cuándo empiezas a trabajar en la tarea?
trabajar
to work
en
in / on / by (means of transport) / about (after pensar)
cuándo
when
a
to
empezar
to begin
la tarea
the task
Questions & Answers about ¿Cuándo empiezas a trabajar en la tarea?
Why is there an a between empiezas and trabajar?
When you want to express starting an action in Spanish, you use the verb empezar, followed by the preposition a, and then the infinitive (the basic, unconjugated verb). So, to say 'start to work' or 'start working', you must use the combination empezar a trabajar. You cannot put the two verbs right next to each other without the a.
The English translation says 'working', so why doesn't the Spanish use trabajando?
In English, we often use an -ing word after 'start', like 'start working'. However, in Spanish, the phrase empezar a must always be followed by the infinitive form of the verb (ending in -ar, -er, or -ir). Saying empiezas a trabajando is grammatically incorrect. You must use the infinitive trabajar.
Why is the verb spelled empiezas with an 'ie' instead of 'e'?
The verb empezar (to start) is a stem-changing verb. When conjugating it in the present tense, the second e changes to ie for most forms, including the tú (informal you) form used in this question. Therefore, empezas becomes empiezas.
Why does the sentence use en la tarea instead of using a word like 'sobre' for 'on' the task?
In English, we say we work 'on' a task or a project. In Spanish, the preposition en is the natural choice for this idea. En is very versatile and frequently translates to 'in', 'on', or 'at' depending on the context. While sobre also means 'on', it is usually used for physical location (like a book resting on a table) or to mean 'about'.
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