commença à

began to

→ commencer
phrase Common #7,704
began to Past tense of commencer à. Used before an infinitive to say someone started doing something.
FR: Quand elle a entendu la nouvelle, elle commença à sourire.
EN: When she heard the news, she began to smile.

Tom prit un livre, l’ouvrit et commença à le lire.

Tom picked up a book, opened it, and began to read.

Malgré tout, Tom commença à se détendre.

Despite everything, Tom began to relax.

Ziri commença à parler.

Ziri began to speak.

L'écureuil ferma les yeux et commença à compter des noisettes.

The squirrel closed its eyes and began counting hazelnuts.

Tom commença à grimper.

Tom began to climb.

On commença à voir les choses autrement.

We began to see things differently.

— Fight Club (1999)

La valeur du dollar commença à chuter.

The value of the dollar began to fall.

Tom commença à charger le pistolet.

Tom began loading the gun.

Tom commença à tousser.

Tom started coughing.

Le cours d'anglais commença à huit heures et demie.

The English class started at half past eight.

Tout le monde commença à se disputer.

Everyone started arguing.

Il commença à avoir des soupçons envers elle.

He began to become suspicious of her.

Marie commença à se déshabiller.

Marie began to undress.

Beethoven alla au piano, s'assit et commença à jouer.

Beethoven went to the piano, sat down, and began to play.

Un vent fort commença à souffler.

A strong wind began to blow.

Tom commença à se brosser les dents.

Tom began to brush his teeth.

Sami commença à sauter l'école.

Sami started skipping school.

Ziri commença à pleurer.

Ziri started to cry.

La maison commença à trembler.

The house began to shake.

Au son du sifflet, le bateau commença à s'éloigner du port.

At the sound of the whistle, the boat began to pull away from the harbor.

Tom commença à prier.

Tom began to pray.

Tenoch commença à sortir avec sa voisine deux mois plus tard.

Tenoch started dating his neighbor two months later.

— Y tu mamá también (2001)

Ziri commença à appeler sa femme.

Ziri began to call his wife.

Fred commença à aimer Jane, et ils ont commencé à se voir.

Fred began to like Jane, and they began seeing each other.

Tom commença à dessiner.

Tom began to draw.

Tom commença à trembler.

Tom began to tremble.

La pluie commença à tomber.

The rain began to fall.

Il commença à chercher un travail.

He began to look for a job.

La leçon commença à huit heures.

The lesson began at eight o’clock.

Tom commença à aimer Mary de plus en plus.

Tom began to love Mary more and more.

Sa conférence commença à l'heure prévue.

His lecture began at the scheduled time.

Tom commença à se sentir fatigué.

Tom began to feel tired.

La pluie avait à peine fini de tomber que le sol commença à geler.

The rain had barely stopped falling when the ground began to freeze.

Tout le monde commença à agiter son drapeau.

Everyone started waving their flags.

Un homme commença à suivre Tom.

A man started following Tom.

L'amour commença à croître entre les deux.

Love began to grow between the two of them.

Tom commença à préparer le dîner.

Tom began to prepare dinner.

Ziri commença à faire pousser des dattiers lui aussi.

Ziri began growing date palms himself.

Elle commença à l'aimer immédiatement.

She began to love him immediately.

Une averse commença à tomber.

A downpour began to fall.

La police commença à enquêter sur l'affaire de meurtre.

The police began investigating the murder case.

Tom commença à fouiller la maison.

Tom began to search the house.

Tom s'endormit rapidement et commença à ronfler.

Tom quickly fell asleep and began to snore.

Tom commença à étudier le français il y a trois ans.

Tom started studying French three years ago.

Je venais de me mettre au lit quand le téléphone commença à sonner.

I had just gotten into bed when the phone started ringing.

Il commença à neiger.

It started to snow.

Tom commença à battre sa fille.

Tom started beating his daughter.

Tom commença à tirer.

Tom started shooting.

L'ours commença à déchirer la tente.

The bear began tearing the tent apart.

Tout le monde commença à parler en même temps.

Everyone started talking at once.

Il commença à apprendre l'anglais à l'âge de onze ans.

He began learning English at the age of eleven.

Ce n'est que lentement qu'il commença à comprendre la situation.

It was only slowly that he began to understand the situation.

Tom commença à retirer sa veste.

Tom began to take off his jacket.