anfangen

See also: Anfängen

German

Etymology

From Middle High German anvahen (“to grab on”), from an (“on”) + vahen (“to grab”), corresponding to an- +‎ fangen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈanˌfaŋən/, [ˈanˌfaŋən], [ˈanˌfaŋŋ̩]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: an‧fan‧gen

• audio (Austria):

  (file)

Verb

1. (intransitive) to begin; to commence

   Das Konzert fängt gleich an.

   The concert is beginning shortly.

2. (intransitive, with zu + infinitive) to start doing something

   Wann hast du angefangen zu rauchen?

   When did you start smoking?

3. (intransitive, with mit) to begin something; to start something

   Morgen fangen wir mit dem Projekt an.

   Tomorrow we are starting the project.

4. (intransitive, with von) to start a topic; to keep talking about something

   Er fängt ständig von seinen Hunden an.

   He’s always talking about his dogs.

5. (transitive, colloquial) to begin something; to start something

   Wann hast du das Rauchen angefangen?

   When did you start smoking?

   Morgen fangen wir das Projekt an.

   Tomorrow we are starting the project.

Usage notes

• The normal auxiliary for this verb is haben: Ich habe angefangen. – "I have begun." The auxiliary sein is however used by some speakers in northwestern Germany in everyday speech: Ich bin angefangen. (Many and probably almost all of these speakers however use the standard forms in formal contexts in speech and writing.) It is conceivable that this usage is due to influence by the same construction in Dutch beginnen (“to begin”): Ik ben begonnen.).
• The construction of anfangen as a transitive verb (sense 4) is perfectly acceptable in spoken German, but would not be common in formal writing.

References

Synonyms

• beginnen (less frequent in common speech)
• starten (not always applicable)

Derived terms

• Anfangen

Related terms

• Anfang m
• Anfänger m
• anfänglich

Further reading

• “anfangen” in Duden online

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Swedish

Noun

anfangen

1. (deprecated template usage) definite singular of anfang