Verb + à + infinitive
commencer
The constructions
Meaning : the everyday form
Elle commence à comprendre le français parlé.
Do not writeElle commence comprendre le français parlé.
Meaning : same meaning, formal written register
Il commençait de pleuvoir quand nous sommes sortis.
Meaning : what you do first
Commence par la question la plus facile.
Why
Commencer à is the construction to remember: it works everywhere. Commencer de exists, but only in formal writing; in speech it sounds dated. Commencer par means something else: it says what you start with, an order rather than an action getting under way.
The trap for a Chinese speaker
In Chinese, 開始 attaches straight to the verb (開始學). In French, the infinitive never follows commencer without a preposition.
Read the full lesson : Prepositions: place, time, and verb + à, de or infinitive →