Commencer à or se mettre à? Two ways to begin in French

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Compare commencer à and se mettre à with present-tense forms, a short exchange and four questions. Keep the pronoun, à and the following infinitive in place.

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In short

Both commencer à and se mettre à mean beginning an action. Commencer à names the beginning; se mettre à often highlights getting into the activity. Use à followed by an infinitive, and keep the pronoun in je me mets à travailler.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

A person settling at a desk to begin working.
Se mettre à travailler brings the start of an activity into view. Illustration: Atelier

What is the difference between commencer à and se mettre à?

commencer à + infinitifto begin doing something

Focus: The start of an action or developing state.

Nous commençons à + infinitif

Nous commençons à comprendre la règle.
We are beginning to understand the rule.

Elle commence à lire.
She is starting to read.

se mettre à + infinitifto start doing something; to get down to it

Focus: The transition into an activity.

Nous nous mettons à + infinitif

Après la pause, nous nous mettons à travailler.
After the break, we get to work.

Elle se met à lire.
She starts reading.

Study first: present-tense forms

Conjugate the first verb; keep the action in the infinitive
Subjectcommencer à lirese mettre à lire
jeje commence à lireje me mets à lire
tutu commences à liretu te mets à lire
il / elle / onelle commence à lireelle se met à lire
nousnous commençons à lirenous nous mettons à lire
vousvous commencez à lirevous vous mettez à lire
ils / ellesils commencent à lireils se mettent à lire

The ç in commençons keeps the soft sound before o. With se mettre, the repeated nous and vous are useful signals: nous nous mettons, vous vous mettez. The second pronoun belongs to the expression.

A pause, then a fresh start

Après la pause
  1. Léa

    Tu commences à comprendre ?

    Are you beginning to understand?

  2. Sam

    Oui. On se met à travailler ensemble ?

    Yes. Shall we get down to work together?

  3. Léa

    D’accord. Je dois aussi me mettre à réviser pour demain.

    All right. I also need to start revising for tomorrow.

After je dois, the expression stays infinitive: me mettre à réviser. In on se met à travailler, met is conjugated and travailler stays infinitive. A planned beginning can use either expression. Words such as tout à coup supply suddenness when that detail matters.

How do you say “start something” with a noun in French?

Nous commençons le travail à neuf heures.

We begin work at nine o’clock.

With the noun le travail, commencer takes a direct object. In commencer à travailler, the action is an infinitive introduced by à.

Commencer de also occurs, especially in literary writing. Practise the common commencer à pattern here. Neither beginning expression states that the task is finished: elle commence à lire leaves the rest of the reading open.

Question 1No account needed
Complete the commencer à pattern.Nous commençons ___ comprendre.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

à. The pattern practised here is commencer à plus the infinitive comprendre.

Question 2No account needed
Choose se mettre à with nous.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Nous nous mettons à travailler.. Use the subject nous, the pronominal nous, then mettons à and the infinitive.

Question 3No account needed
Complete after je dois.Je dois ___ pour demain.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

me mettre à réviser. Dois is conjugated. The following me mettre and réviser are infinitives.

Question 4No account needed
Which sentence uses commencer followed directly by a noun?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Nous commençons le travail.. Le travail is a noun phrase and a direct object. Lire and comprendre are infinitives.

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