beginnen

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch beginnen, from Old Dutch biginnan, from Proto-Germanic *biginnaną.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bəˈɣɪnə(n)/

• audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: be‧gin‧nen
• Rhymes: -ɪnən

Verb

beginnen

1. (ergative) to begin

Inflection

Conjugation of beginnen (strong class 3, prefixed)
infinitive	beginnen
past singular	begon
past participle	begonnen
infinitive	beginnen
gerund	beginnen n
	present tense	past tense
1st person singular	begin	begon
2nd person sing. (jij)	begint	begon
2nd person sing. (u)	begint	begon
2nd person sing. (gij)	begint	begont
3rd person singular	begint	begon
plural	beginnen	begonnen
subjunctive sing.1	beginne	begonne
subjunctive plur.1	beginnen	begonnen
imperative sing.	begin
imperative plur.1	begint
participles	beginnend	begonnen
1) Archaic.

Synonyms

• starten

Antonyms

• stoppen

Derived terms

• beginnen
• beginsel

Descendants

• Afrikaans: begin

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German

Etymology

From Middle High German beginnen, from Old High German biginnan, from Proto-Germanic *biginnaną. Cognate with Low German beginnen, Dutch beginnen, West Frisian begjinne, and English begin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bəˈɡɪnən/, [bəˈɡɪnən], [bəˈɡɪnn̩]

• audio (Germany):

  (file)

• audio (Austria):

  (file)

Verb

1. (intransitive) to begin; to commence; to be started

   Der Vortrag hat begonnen. — “The lecture has begun.”

2. (chiefly literary, transitive or with mit) to start something; to begin something

   Er hat den Vortrag begonnen. — “He has started the lecture.”

   Er hat mit dem Vortrag begonnen. — “He has started the lecture.”

Usage notes

• Beginnen is relatively rare in colloquial German and is most often replaced with anfangen. This is particularly true of the sense “to start something”.
• In literary German, beginnen is often preferred to anfangen, though both are perfectly acceptable.

Derived terms

• Beginnen
• Beginner
• Beginn
• beginnend
• begonnen

Related terms

• beenden

Further reading

• “beginnen” in Duden online

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Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch biginnan, from Proto-Germanic *biginnaną.

Verb

beginnen

1. to begin, to start
2. to arise, to originate

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

• beginninge
• beginsel

Descendants

• Dutch: beginnen
• Limburgish: beginne

Further reading

• “beghinnen (II)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “beginnen”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

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Middle High German

Etymology

From Old High German biginnan, from Proto-Germanic *biginnaną. Cognate with English begin and Dutch beginnen.

Verb

beginnen

1. to begin

Conjugation

conjugation of beginnen (strong class III)

infinitive		beginnen
present participle		beginnende
past participle		begunnen
	indicative			subjunctive
present	ich beginne	wir beginnen	i	ich beginne	wir beginnen
	du beginnest	ir beginnet		du beginnest	ir beginnet
	ër beginnet	sie beginnent		ër beginnet	sie beginnen
preterite	ich begann	wir begunnen	ii	ich begünne	wir begünnen
	du begünne	ir begunnet		du begünnest	ir begünnet
	ër begann	sie begunnen		ër begünne	sie begünnen
imperative	beginn (du)	beginnen (wir)	beginnet (ir)

Descendants

• German: beginnen