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Definition 2024


beginnen

beginnen

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]

Verb

beginnen (class 3 strong, third-person singular simple present beginnt, past tense begann, past participle begonnen, auxiliary haben)

  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.

Related terms

Conjugation


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.

Descendants


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

Descendants