empezara

started, began

→ empezar
empez to start, to begin + ara Imperfect subjunctive (I/he/she/you formal)
verb · singular, pluperfect tense Rare #31,683
started, began This form is used in clauses after expressions such as “before,” “wait for,” or “make someone,” and in hypothetical sentences.
SP: Esperé a que empezara la película.
EN: I waited for the movie to start.
Conjugation of empezar
Subjunctive pluperfect
empezara

Mi comentario hizo que el grupo empezara a discutir.

My comment caused the group to start arguing.

Tom dijo que esperaba que él llegara a casa antes de que empezara a llover.

Tom said he hoped he would get home before it started to rain.

Los invitados estaban en el jardín esperando que empezara la fiesta.

The guests were in the garden waiting for the party to start.

Takuya me dijo que empezara de una vez.

Takuya told me to start right away.

Le pedí que empezara de una vez.

I asked him to start right away.

Esperamos en el cine a que empezara la película.

We waited in the cinema for the movie to start.

Si hubiera visto la casa antes de que empezara a limpiar.

If only I had seen the house before I started cleaning.

— El botín (2026)

Tom tocaba el clarinete antes de que empezara a aprender a tocar el fagot.

Tom played the clarinet before he started learning to play the bassoon.

Que empezara rápido y acabara pronto no iba a ocurrir ese día.

That it would start quickly and end soon wasn’t going to happen that day.

Eso fue justo antes de que empezara la tormenta que dejó sin luz a medio barrio.

That was just before the storm started that left half the neighborhood without power.

Había mucho trabajo por hacer antes de que su idea empezara a dar frutos.

There was a lot of work to do before his idea started to pay off.