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fluentbyear

GERMAN VERB

beginnen

to begin

  • #49 most used
  • Strong verb
  • Past participle: begonnen

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Präsens · now, habits and facts

  1. ich I begin
  2. du you begin
  3. er, sie, es he/she begins
  4. wir we begin
  5. ihr you all begin
  6. sie, Sie they begin

Simple past

Präteritum · the past of writing, and of sein, haben and the modals in speech

  1. ich I began
  2. du you began
  3. er, sie, es he/she began
  4. wir we began
  5. ihr you all began
  6. sie, Sie they began

Perfect

Perfekt · the past of speech: “habe gemacht”

  1. ich I have begun
  2. du you have begun
  3. er, sie, es he/she has begun
  4. wir we have begun
  5. ihr you all have begun
  6. sie, Sie they have begun

Future

Futur I · “werden”; in speech the present with “morgen” does the job

  1. ich I will begin
  2. du you will begin
  3. er, sie, es he/she will begin
  4. wir we will begin
  5. ihr you all will begin
  6. sie, Sie they will begin

Conditional

Konjunktiv II · “would”: “würde”, and “wäre”, “hätte”, “könnte”

  1. ich I would begin
  2. du you would begin
  3. er, sie, es he/she would begin
  4. wir we would begin
  5. ihr you all would begin
  6. sie, Sie they would begin

Imperative

Imperativ · requests and orders: du, ihr, Sie

  1. du begin!
  2. ihr begin! (all of you)
  3. Sie begin! (formal)

How to use beginnen

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Der Film beginnt um Viertel nach acht.

    The film starts at quarter past eight.

  2. Simple past

    Der Kurs begann schon im September.

    The course started back in September.

  3. Perfect

    Hat das Konzert schon begonnen?

    Has the concert started yet?

  4. Future

    Wir werden pünktlich um neun beginnen.

    We'll start at nine sharp.

  5. Conditional

    Ich würde mit dem leichten Teil beginnen.

    I'd begin with the easy part.

  6. Imperative

    Beginnt ohne mich, ich komme später.

    Start without me, I'll come later.

Good to know

  • Beginnen and anfangen mean the same; anfangen is the one you hear more.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: strong verb.