empezar, comenzar and contestar, responder - interchangeable?

Question

Hey guys I would like to know whether these synonyma - contestar, responder and empezar, comenzar are always interchangeable. Or are there any contextual differences? Thank you for your answers and wish you a very merry Christmas- saludos Maros

Answer 1

Comenzar and empezar are pretty much always interchangeable - there is just one exception that I can think of and that's when empezar is used to mean to begin consume or eat something (you don't need to add the verb comer etc)

RAE Iniciar el uso o consumo de algo.

Answer 2

responder R A E

contestar R A E

If you look at the link you will see the contestar is used in many of the contextual definitions of responder. However, they are not synonyms in all contexts, so they are not always interchangeable. Notice the example sentences about an illness responding to a treatment. Contestar would not fit there.

Answer 3

And here's a previous thread re responder vs contestar

Oops. Busy looking things up when you answered. - 0074b507, Dec 20, 2011