CEFR A2
What you will learn
- Use an action-phase construction without changing whether the event is finished.
- Require evidence of an earlier occurrence before asserting repetition.
- Combine actor, phase and separate events in a faithful update.
Before you start
- Know the regular present, basic questions and noun agreement. Use the linked lessons for the forms needed here.
- Use familiar present forms; any past question in this page can use the already studied preterite or perfect.
The idea
A phase construction tells us where an action sits in its development. Empezar a plus infinitive presents its beginning. Acabar de plus infinitive, with a present auxiliary in the recent-past meaning practised here, presents an event just completed. Volver a plus infinitive presents another occurrence of an action. The construction carries more than verb form. “Vuelve a llamar” commits the speaker to a previous call; “empieza a llamar” does not. Calling again need not mean that a fault caused the repetition. Add a cause only if the case gives one.
The first verb carries person and tense, while the second stays an infinitive: “empezamos a leer”, “acaban de llegar”. Keep the linking preposition with its construction. This page uses present forms and familiar infinitives; it does not ask for a narrative tense contrast.
In the recent-completion reading, acabar de does not itself announce a long wait, a second attempt or a future plan. Conversely, starting a task does not establish its completion. When a record says only that an action occurred, neither recentness nor repetition can be invented from the topic.
Reference: form and meaning
| Person | empezar a + infinitive | volver a + infinitive | acabar de + infinitive |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | empiezo a | vuelvo a | acabo de |
| tú | empiezas a | vuelves a | acabas de |
| él / ella / usted | empieza a | vuelve a | acaba de |
| nosotros / nosotras | empezamos a | volvemos a | acabamos de |
| vosotros / vosotras | empezáis a | volvéis a | acabáis de |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | empiezan a | vuelven a | acaban de |
All rows take an infinitive. The active readings are beginning, repetition and recent completion; no claim about a cause is supplied by the construction.
How it sounds
- La clase empieza a trabajar.Work is beginning now for the first time, with no earlier start. Repetition would require a previous occurrence that the record explicitly excludes. Third-person empieza takes a and the infinitive trabajar. «Vuelve a» would imply an earlier occurrence, which this first start excludes.
Transfer 1A different case
P1. 10:00 — Laura finishes the form. 10:01 — she starts writing the address on the envelope; she has not finished it. P2. It is now 10:01. P3. Her manager asks: «¿Laura ya ha escrito la dirección?». Answer the manager in Spanish with one sentence about both tasks.
P1. 17:30 — you and a colleague finish checking a map. 17:31 — you both start drawing a new route. P2. It is 17:31. P3. Another colleague asks: «¿Ya tenéis la ruta?» (in much of Latin America: «¿Ya tienen la ruta?»). Answer in Spanish for both of you.
Answer available without interaction
Answer: Your answer: Spanish wording and any requested English comment: No, acaba de completar el formulario y ahora empieza a escribir la dirección.
Model answer: No, acaba de completar el formulario y ahora empieza a escribir la dirección.
Criteria for reviewing your answer:
- Answers the question negatively for the address.
- Marks the form as just completed with acabar de and the address as beginning with empezar a, without presenting the address as finished.
The form was finished a moment ago, so it is a recent completion; the address is only beginning, so the answer to the question is no.
Answer: Your answer: Spanish wording and any requested English comment: No, acabamos de revisar el mapa y empezamos a dibujar la ruta.
Model answer: No, acabamos de revisar el mapa y empezamos a dibujar la ruta.
Criteria for reviewing your answer:
- Uses nosotros forms of the first verbs (acabamos de / empezamos a).
- Presents the map check as just finished and the route as only starting, so the route is not available yet.
Checking has just finished and drawing is starting; the plural speaker uses nosotros forms, and the route does not exist yet.
Transfer 2A different case
P1. A record says that Nuria phones the office now. P2. It says nothing about earlier calls. P3. A draft claims «Nuria vuelve a llamar». State in English what evidence is missing, ask the relevant yes/no question in Spanish, and supply a neutral current report with llamar.
P1. Mateo writes to a client now. P2. The record gives no previous message. P3. A draft claims «Mateo vuelve a escribir al cliente». Name the missing evidence in English, ask about an earlier message in Spanish and give a neutral present report with escribir.
Answer available without interaction
Answer: Your answer: Spanish wording and any requested English comment: An earlier call is unrecorded. ¿Nuria ha llamado antes? Nuria llama ahora.
Model answer: An earlier call is unrecorded. ¿Nuria ha llamado antes? Nuria llama ahora.
Criteria for reviewing your answer:
- Identifies an earlier call as missing evidence.
- Asks whether there was a previous call and reports the current one without asserting repetition.
Volver a asserts an earlier occurrence. The question can use the already studied perfect; the neutral present reports the observed call without adding repetition.
Answer: Your answer: Spanish wording and any requested English comment: A previous message is not recorded. ¿Mateo ha escrito al cliente antes? Mateo escribe al cliente ahora.
Model answer: A previous message is not recorded. ¿Mateo ha escrito al cliente antes? Mateo escribe al cliente ahora.
Criteria for reviewing your answer:
- Identifies the missing previous message.
- Questions earlier occurrence and reports only the current writing.
A current message is compatible with a first or another occurrence; the record alone does not select volver a.
Transfer 3A different case
P1. Log: Monday — Daniel reads note A. Today 9:00 — Daniel finishes note B, which he is reading for the first time. Today 9:01 — Daniel starts reading note A. P2. Write the 9:01 update in Spanish, one sentence for each note. P3. In English, say which line of the log justifies the construction you chose for note A.
P1. Log: last week — Inés read book 1. Today 18:00 — she finishes book 2, a first reading. Today 18:01 — she starts book 1. P2. Write the 18:01 update in Spanish, one sentence for each book. P3. In English, name the evidence for the construction you chose for book 1.
Answer available without interaction
Answer: Your answer: Spanish wording and any requested English comment: Daniel acaba de leer la nota B. Ahora vuelve a leer la nota A. The Monday line shows an earlier reading of note A.
Model answer: Daniel acaba de leer la nota B. Ahora vuelve a leer la nota A. The Monday line shows an earlier reading of note A.
Criteria for reviewing your answer:
- Marks note B as just completed with acabar de.
- Uses volver a (or «empieza a leer otra vez») for note A and justifies it with the Monday entry, not with the number of notes.
Note B has just been completed. Note A was read on Monday, so the start at 9:01 is another occurrence. Having two notes does not create repetition; Monday’s line about note A does.
Answer: Your answer: Spanish wording and any requested English comment: Inés acaba de leer el libro 2. Ahora vuelve a leer el libro 1. Last week’s entry shows an earlier reading of book 1.
Model answer: Inés acaba de leer el libro 2. Ahora vuelve a leer el libro 1. Last week’s entry shows an earlier reading of book 1.
Criteria for reviewing your answer:
- Marks book 2 as just completed.
- Marks book 1 as another occurrence (volver a) and grounds it in last week’s entry.
Book 2 is a recent completion; book 1 has an earlier reading last week, so starting it now is a repetition.
What your own language pushes you to say
Wrong Nosotros empezamos de leer.
Right Nosotros empezamos a leer.
Empezar uses a with the infinitive in this construction. Acabar uses de; their linking words do not transfer between verbs.
Transfer 4: combine the distinctions
P1. Team log: yesterday 16:00 — Sara checks drawing 1. Today 10:00 — the file of drawing 1 is replaced; Sara starts checking drawing 1. Today 10:00 — Luis starts checking drawing 2; nobody has checked drawing 2 before. Today 10:20 — Sara finishes her check. P2. A draft update for 10:05 says: «Sara y Luis vuelven a revisar los dibujos porque cambiaron el archivo». P3. Repair the 10:05 update in Spanish using only what the log shows, then add a short Spanish update for 10:20.
Answer available without interaction
- Separates Sara’s repeated check from Luis’s first check.
- Removes the unsupported cause «porque cambiaron el archivo».
- Uses acabar de for Sara’s completion at 10:20, not for 10:05.
Answer: 10:05: Sara vuelve a revisar el dibujo 1 y Luis empieza a revisar el dibujo 2. 10:20: Sara acaba de revisar el dibujo 1.
Only Sara has an earlier check, so only she repeats; Luis begins. The log shows the file change but not that it caused the checks, so the cause is removed. At 10:20 Sara’s check is a recent completion.
Curriculum alignment and sources
- PCIC §12.1, A2 column: empezar a, volver a and acabar de + infinitive. The split into A2.2 and the sequence of tasks are editorial. · Plan Curricular del Instituto Cervantes: Gramática, inventario A1-A2
Continue along this corridor
Practise this: “Quiero”, “puedo”, “duermo”: verbs that change insidePractise this: “He comido” or “comí”: today's pastEssential irregular present forms for A1The present perfect: a past event connected to now