What's the difference between empezar y comenzar?
2
votes
I know both verbs mean to begin, but is there any subtle difference between the two? Is there a situation in which a native speaker would choose to use one verb over the other? Thanks!
10427 views
updated Feb 6, 2012
posted by kkingdrew
2 Answers
2
votes
I didn't know, but found this on a search:
< Para mí son iguales, aunque "empezar" me parece que se usa más que "comenzar" en el habla coloquial (por lo menos en España).
< Creía que “comenzar” es más formal que la palabra "empezar". Porque en los Estados Unidos la traducción directa de "comenzar" es "to commence" que es muy formal y generalmente nosotros no le dijamos.
It seems that "Comenzar" is formal, similar "to commence" in English.
updated Feb 6, 2012
posted by CaliforniaDreamer
Comencar is much more common in Spanish than commence is in English. There isn't much of a big difference between comenzar and empezar at all. - Jeremias, Feb 6, 2012
Do you mean "comenzar" jeremias? - Rey_Mysterio, Feb 6, 2012
1
vote
The difference is the same as that between "Commence" and "Start."
updated Feb 6, 2012
posted by 005faa61
