Using the word began

начинать, начинаться, завязать, наставать

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- past от begin

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How do you use the word began?

“Began” is the simple past tense of “begin” and used when describing an action or process that started in the past, but that has now finished: The Second Boer War began in 1899 and ended in 1902. You can also use “began” for an ongoing action or event: The day began well and has gotten better since!

How do you use begun in a sentence?

When to use Begun: Begun is the past participle form of begin. It appears after the helping verb have in the perfect tenses….Using Begun in a Sentence

1. You can’t stop the process now. It has already begun.
2. By the time the racer realized he had forgotten his shoes, the race had begun.
3. Have you begun your homework yet?

What’s the difference between Begin and began?

‘Begin’ is the present verb tense of the verb which means ‘to start. ‘Began’ is the simple past form of the verb, used to show things happening in the past. ‘Begun’ is the past participle which is used with helping verbs to form the perfect tenses.

Is has begun correct?

Future perfect tense: will have begun. Present perfect tense: have/has begun. Past perfect tense: had begun.

Has already begun or began?

In modern English “began” is the simple past tense of “begin” “he began to study for the test at midnight.” But the past participle form—preceded by a helping verb—is “begun.” “By morning, he had begun to forget everything he’d studied that night.” BUY THE BOOK!

Can we say will be started?

If the important thing is the person who starts it and what he or she does when starting it, “will be started” is better. Usually, the starting process is obvious and it’s the time (or, here, date) that matters. So, “will start” is usually the better choice, but both are grammatically correct.

What is the meaning of jump up?

British, disapproving. : having a too high an opinion of one’s own importance She thinks that politicians are all just a bunch of jumped-up nobodies.

What does freeloader mean?

intransitive verb. : to impose upon another’s generosity or hospitality without sharing in the cost or responsibility involved : sponge. Other Words from freeload Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More About freeload.

What does jump into mean?

to suddenly decide to do something, especially without thinking about it carefully: Investors shouldn’t jump into moving their funds without carefully reviewing their financial situation.

What does cutthroat mean?

1 : murderous, cruel. 2 : marked by unprincipled practices : ruthless cutthroat competition.

Is cut throat two words?

noun. a person who cuts the throat of another; a murderer.

Why is it called a cut throat razor?

A cut throat razor is a razor that has a single straight blade which is attached to a handle by a hinge or pin and that is stored by folding it edge-first into a slot in the handle of the razor. The straight-edge razor was also called the cut-throat razor because it was dangerous enough to cut a man’s throat.

How do you use cutthroat in a sentence?

The costume is more cute than cutthroat and comes with an adorable headband that features vampire eyes. Tory Foster – The President’s Aide was cutthroat and reveled in being a Cylon as an excuse for her bad behavior. In the cutthroat world of web design, an award can mean life or death to your firm.

What is another word for Rein?

Rein Synonyms – WordHippo Thesaurus….What is another word for rein?

lead	leash
strap	bridle
line	halter
tether	cord
rope	chain

What is rien mean in French?

everything well or nothing

What does the word rein mean in the Bible?

The broader region of the loins, which according to the Oxford English Dictionary is implied in the now archaic term “reins,” is considered the site of physical strength and prowess (Job 40:7; 2 Sam. 20:8). The kidneys are mentioned five times in the Bible as the organs examined by God to pass judgment on a person.

When speaking or writing English, using the past tense can be confusing. There are many types of tenses when referring to events that have already happened. To make matters worse, English contains many irregular verbs that are conjugated in ways that don’t immediately make sense.

This lack of consistency can (and does) lead to quite a few mistakes. One of the easiest mistakes to make is to misuse began and begun, which are two forms of the irregular verb begin.

In spoken English, the two words are often used interchangeably, but in academic and professional writing, knowing the difference between these words is important.

What is the difference between began and begun? In this article, I’ll explain the differences between began and begun, use these words in a sentence, and demonstrate how to choose began or begun and use each correctly.

When to Use Began

What does began mean? Began and begun are both conjugations of the irregular verb “to begin,” which means to start or proceed with something.

Began is the simple past tense form of begin. It does not need any helping, or auxiliary verbs, like had.

So, while you might say,

• Gavin began to open the package.

You would not say,

• Gavin had began to open the package.

Began is never used with a helping verb.

When to Use Begun

What does begun mean? Begun, meanwhile, is the past participle form of the same verb. It, therefore, should be used with helping verbs.

You could say,

• Yasmin had begun to eat the cake.

But you wouldn’t say,

• Yasmin begun to eat the cake.

If you’re using begun, it needs a helping verb in order to be correct.

This brings us to the differences between simple past and past participles. Simple past tense describes things that happened in the past. The sentence “Gavin began to open the package” describes an event that happened in the past. The past participle describes something that happened in the past in conjunction with other events in the past.

“Yasmin had begun to eat the cake” describes one of a sequence of events. For instance, one could say,

• Yasmin had already begun to eat the cake by the time we sang to her.

As you can see, began is not used with a helping verb.

Begun, on the other hand, is always used with a helping verb.

Trick to Remember the Difference

Because began and begun are so similar, it can be difficult to remember which word is which.

If you find yourself confused, remember that begun rhymes with one, and since begun is a past participle, it needs one more word to go with it: a helping verb.

Summary: Begun vs. Began

Began and begun are two forms of the irregular verb begin.

Began is the simple past conjugation. Began is not used with any helping verb.

Begun is the past participle form. Begun must always have a helping verb to be correct.

If you have trouble deciding which word to use, remember that begun rhymes with one and always needs one helping verb in grammatically correct English.

Being able to use each word accurately when speaking or writing signifies intelligence and professionalism. If you’re having trouble deciding whether to use began or begun, you can always revisit this article as a quick refresher.

What is the difference between began and begun?

Misusing the words began and begun is one of the most common mishaps in English grammar. Sure, the words look and sound similar enough, but there’s a right and wrong way to use them in a sentence. 

The words began and begun are different forms of the irregular verb “to begin.” We use the verb “begin” for actions that ‘start,’ ‘initiate’ or ‘launch’ an activity or process. For example, 

“Dinner begins with an appetizer.” (present tense)
“We began dinner with an appetizer.” (simple past tense)
“We’ve begun to eat dinner.” (present perfect tense)

As shown above, we use “began” for the past tense and “begun” as the past participle for all perfect tenses. Additional verb forms include begins (plural present) and beginning (present continuous/progressive). 

”To begin” as an irregular verb…

There are several reasons why began and begun are commonly confused words, starting with the irregularities of the verb “begin.” Regular verbs consist of a simple past tense form with a present and past participle. Additionally, a regular verb’s simple past and past participle ends with -ed, such as “learned,” “passed,” or “separated.”

If “begin” were a regular verb, the past tense and past participle forms would look something like “begined”–– which is, clearly, not the case. Instead, the verb tense forms of begin look something like this:  

• Simple past tense: began
• Present tense: begin/begins
• Future tense: begin
• Progressive tense: beginning
• Perfect tenses: begun

Beginner vs. beginning?

Another reason why it’s easy to confuse began vs. begun: similar, yet different words that start with “begin.” Do the nouns “beginner” or “beginning” ring a bell? 

In addition to acting as the progressive tense form, the word “beginning” is also a noun. As explained by The American Heritage Dictionary, the noun “beginning” is ‘the time or place when something starts,’ ‘the earliest time of initiation,’ or ‘a source or cause.’ In this case, telling someone to “start at the beginning” is different from saying “something is beginning.” 

Likewise, the noun (or adjective) “beginner” describes someone or something deemed ‘entry-level,’ ‘new,’ or ‘just starting to learn something.’ For example, if you’re taking an ESL class, you might be a “beginner-English student.” Or, if you start a new exercise class, you could enroll in a “beginner’s course” to get started. 

What does begin mean?

The word begin is an irregular verb that means ‘to start,’ ‘arise,’ ‘perform,’ or ‘undergo the initial part of an action.’ Specific definitions and examples of “begin” include:

1. To initiate or ‘set about’ an activity or process. For example, 

“She began writing after work.” 
“Let’s begin with chapter 4.”
“The race begins at noon.”
“He’s in the beginning process of cleaning the garage.”
“They’ve already begun reading.” 

2. To arise or originate in existence. For example, 

“My life began in the early 90s.” 
“A new day begins whether you like it or not.” 

3. To establish or start an organization, process, or activity. For example, 

“The book club began with only three members.”
“The private school was begun by local chapter members.” 

Phrases with the verb begin:

As noted by Lexico, English speakers use the verb begin for several phrases, including: 

• “Begin/began to do something:” to start at an initial task, time, or place. 
• “Begin with:” to start with an initial element. 
• “Begin on/upon:” to start working or stating something. 
• “Begin at:” a minimum cost of something or to not have any likelihood of occurring. 
• “To begin with:” to start with something first. 

Synonyms

Actualize, appear, arise, commence, constitute, develop, embark, emerge, enter, establish, form, found, generate, inaugurate, initiate, innovate, institute, launch, materialize, open, originate, pioneer, start, surface, take-on, undertake.

Antonyms

Abolish, annihilate, annul, cease, close down, conclude, destroy, discontinue, end, expire, finish, halt, lay off, nullify, phrase out, shut up, stop, terminate, wrap up, quit.

Etymology of begin

According to The New Oxford American Dictionary, the word begin originated with Old English beginnan via early Germanic languages and is related to Dutch and German beginnen (“Begin” 150).

How to use began vs. begun in a sentence?

Now that we understand the definition and irregularities of the verb ‘to begin,’ it’s time to learn how to craft “began” and “begun” into a sentence. As a partial recap, let’s look at which verb tenses we use for all verb forms of begin. 

Begin:

• Present tense: begin/begins
• Future tense: will begin

Began:

• Simple past tense: began

Begun:

• Future perfect tense: will have begun
• Present perfect tense: have/has begun
• Past perfect tense: had begun

Beginning:

• Present continuous tense: am/are beginning
• Past continuous tense: was/were beginning
• Future continuous tense: will be beginning
• Present perfect continuous tense: have/has been beginning
• Past perfect continuous tense: had been beginning
• Future perfect continuous tense: have been beginning

When to use began vs. begun

As shown through prior verb lists, the only time we use “began” is for the simple past tense. For example, 

“I began reading Jane Austin novels.”
“He began every text message with an emoji.” 
“They began dancing and singing.” 

Meanwhile, the word “begun” only occurs for the past, present, and future perfect tenses. Example sentences include,

“By Friday, every resident will have begun the voting process.” (future perfect)
“The city has begun decorating for fall.” (present perfect)
“We had begun celebrating by then.” (past perfect) 

Writing tips for begun vs. began

The second lesson for using “begun” and “began” involves grammar and context:

Use “began” to reference a former title

If you’re looking to reference someone’s former or initial role, “began” is the best word choice. For example: 

• Correct: “She began as the assistant.”
• Incorrect: “She begun as the assistant.” 

Using “began” with inanimate subjects?

If you use “began” with an inanimate object or thing, the verb may imply that something originated or materialized into existence. For example, 

“Crater Lake began as a natural disaster.” 
“The post office began their deliveries at 5 a.m.” 
“The floor began to shake.” 

Only use “to” before “begin”

Whenever you read the word “to” before a verb, that’s because it’s written in the infinitive form (e.g., ‘to begin’). The infinitive form of a verb only contains the root word, so it’s incorrect to use other tense forms. 

• Use: “to begin.”
• Don’t use: “to began,” “to begun,” “to beginning,” etc. 

One last note: If you choose to use the infinitive phrase, beware of using “with” afterward. According to Garner’s Modern English Usage, “to begin” is an introductory phrase that we use to enumerate a reason. Therefore, writing the phrase “to begin with” can imply a chronological order, whether it’s intended or not (Garner 102). 

To illustrate, compare the implied meaning of each example sentence: 

• “We are going to begin with reading.” vs. “We are going to begin reading.” 
• “She’s to begin with Spanish 101.” vs. “She’s to begin Spanish 101.” 

Can you tell the difference? The examples above all convey a command, but using “with” appears more demanding because it implies a negated option. Let’s look at one more:

• “I don’t know what to begin with.” vs. “I don’t know what to begin.” 

For the final example, the appearance of “with” nearly changes the entire meaning of the sentence. The first example implies there are several options ‘to start,’ but the second example can imply that someone is confused or unaware of a task at hand. 

Avoid using auxiliary verbs with “began”

One of the trickier rules for “began” involves auxiliary verbs or ‘helping verbs.’ Most English speakers are aware of other auxiliary verbs like “to have,” “to do,” or “to be” because they allow other verbs to express their tense forms. But in the case of ‘begin,’ we don’t use auxiliary verbs for its past participle form. 

As noted by GMEU, linguists have made examples of phrases like ‘has began’ as “careless speech” and “writing” since 1951–– a writer’s worst nightmare, if you ask us (Garner 102). To avoid these embarrassing call-outs, avoid pairing auxiliary verbs with “began” at all costs!

Correct:

• “He will begin.” 
• “She has begun.” 
• “We have begun.”
• “I will have begun.” 

Incorrect:

• “He will began.” 
• “She has began.” 
• “We have began.” 
• “I will have began.” 

Want to learn more about verbs?

If you enjoyed learning about began vs. begun, check out our recent posts on verbs like:

• Inquire vs. enquire?
• Is vs. are?
• Lets vs. let’s?
• Into vs. in to?
• Chose vs. choose?

Test Yourself!

Confusing words like began and begun have a bad rap for a reason. See how well you understand their differences with the following multiple-choice questions. 

1. True or false: “began” and “begun” are different forms of the verb “begin.”
   a. True
   b. False
2. The word ____________ is the past participle form of begin. 
   a. Began
   b. Begin
   c. Begun
   d. Beginning
3. The word ____________ is the simple past tense form of begin.
   a. Began
   b. Beginning
   c. Begun
   d. Begin
4. Forms of the irregular verb “begin” don’t include _____________.
   a. Begins
   b. Beginner
   c. Beginner
   d. Began
5. The future tense of the verb “begin” is _____________.
   a. Beginning
   b. Began
   c. Begun
   d. Begin

Answers

1. A
2. C
3. A
4. B
5. D

Sources

1. “Begin.” Garner’s Modern American Usage, 3rd ed., Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 102.
2. “Begin.” Lexico, Oxford University Press, 2020.
3. “Begin.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., 2020.
4. “Begin.” The New Oxford American Dictionary, 3rd ed., Oxford University Press, 2010, pp. 150. 
5. “Beginner.” The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2020. 
6. “Beginning.” The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2020. 
7. “Irregular verbs: overview and list.” OWL at Purdue, Purdue University, 2020. 
8. “To begin.” Reverso Conjugation, Reverso-Softissimo, 2020. 

They are similar in spelling, but what exactly is the difference between the words ‘began’ and ‘begun’? Both stem from the verb ‘begin’, but they have specific uses. Read on to learn more about how they should be used.

Began

The word ‘began’ is the simple past tense of ‘begin’, which means ‘start’. ‘Began’ is therefore used to describe things which happened in the past:

I began to run just as the bus pulled away.

However, ‘began’ is never used with auxiliary verbs (i.e. verbs, such as ‘has’ or ‘would have’, that add additional information to another verb in a sentence).

Begun

The word ‘begun’ is the past participle of ‘begin’. ‘Begun’ is used in the perfect tense sentences. It is, therefore, incorrect to write ‘I begun’, as ‘begun’ can never be used without an auxiliary verb (‘has’, ‘have’ or ‘had’). Thus, we must say that something ‘has begun’ or ‘had begun’.

The auxiliary verb used with ‘begun’ affects the tense of the sentence. When combined with ‘has’ or ‘have’, it is part of the present perfect tense. Typically, this shows that something started in the past and continues in the present:

I have begun writing my novel.

When combined with ‘has’, ‘begun’ is part of the past perfect tense. This is typically used when describing a completed action in relation to another event:

I had begun to write when my computer died.

The auxiliary verb and past participle in sentences like these can sometimes be separated by a negative, such as ‘not’ or ‘cannot’, as in the following:

I have not begun to write my essay yet.

The Difference

The difference between ‘began’ and ‘begun’ is a matter of tense. Remember that the simple past tense (‘began’) does not require an auxiliary verb, while the past participle (‘begun’) always needs one.

I have began attending art classes. – Incorrect 

I have begun attending art classes. – Correct

I begun dancing when I was three years old. – Incorrect

I began dancing when I was three years old. – Correct

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