German

Verb

anfangen ‎(class 7 strong, third-person singular simple present fängt an, past tense fing an, past participle angefangen, auxiliary haben or sein)

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. (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 used by some speakers in western and northern Germany: Ich bin angefangen. This is, however, widely restricted to colloquial usage. (Compare 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.

Conjugation

Synonyms

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

Related terms

• Anfang m
• Anfänger m
• anfänglich

Swedish

Noun

anfangen

1. definite singular of anfang