begin

/bɪˈɡɪn/

verb

  1. to start doing something or to start happening

    A1

    intransitive or transitive; irregular: begin, began, begun; followed by a noun, -ing form, or to-infinitive

    • "The lesson begins at nine."A1
    • "Let's begin the meeting now."A1
    • "She began to understand the problem after reading the report."B1
    • "The company has begun developing a new product."B2

  2. to be the first part of a sequence or order

    A2

    intransitive; often followed by with

    • "The first chapter begins with an introduction to the topic."A2
    • "The movie begins with a flashback."B1

Common mistakes

  • begining→beginning

    The final consonant is doubled before adding -ing.

  • I began to studying→I began to study

    Use the base form after to, or use the -ing form without to.

  • begun→began

    Use 'began' for the simple past tense, not 'begun'.

Collocations

begin a journeybegin workbegin to understandbegin withbegin bybegin a new chapterbeginning ofbeginning stages

Word family

beginningbeginnerbegun