Begin
/bi'gin/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb:
- To start or commence an action, process, or event; to take the first step in doing something.
- To come into existence; to have a starting point in time, space, or sequence.
- To start speaking or uttering something.
Examples of Usage
- Verb:
- Let's begin the meeting. (We should start the meeting now.)
- The concert will begin at 8 PM. (The concert's starting point in time is 8 PM.)
- He cleared his throat and began to speak. (He started speaking.)
- The path begins just beyond those trees. (The path has its starting point there.)
- To begin with, I'd like to thank everyone for coming. (First of all, I want to thank you.)
Advanced Usage
- "to begin with": Used to introduce the first point in a list or argument.
- There are several reasons. To begin with, it's too expensive.
- "begin to see/understand/realize": To start to have a particular feeling, thought, or awareness.
- I'm beginning to understand the problem.
- "begin + -ing form": To start an ongoing activity.
- She began learning Spanish last year.
- "begin + to + infinitive": To start to do something.
- It began to rain.
Variants and Related Words
- Beginning (n): The point in time or space at which something starts.
- The beginning of the book was exciting.
- Beginner (n): A person who is starting to learn a skill or subject.
- The course is designed for complete beginners.
- Began (v): The simple past tense of "begin".
- The movie began an hour ago.
- Begun (v): The past participle of "begin".
- The project has just begun.
Synonyms
- Start: To begin an action or movement.
- Commence: A more formal synonym for begin.
- Initiate: To cause a process or action to begin.
- Launch: To begin something, especially an official or public activity.
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Begin on/upon: To start working on something.
- They will begin on the construction next week.
- Begin with: To have something as the first element.
- The alphabet begins with 'A'.
Related Idioms
- Begin the world: (Archaic) To start one's career or independent life.
- Well begun is half done: A good start makes the rest of the task easier.
- We prepared thoroughly because we know well begun is half done.
Noun
- Israeli statesman (born in Russia) who (as prime minister of Israel) negotiated a peace treaty with Anwar Sadat (then the president of Egypt) (1913-1992)
Verb
- begin to speak, understand, read, and write a language
- She began Russian at an early age
- We started French in fourth grade
- achieve or accomplish in the least degree, usually used in the negative
- This economic measure doesn't even begin to deal with the problem of inflation
- You cannot even begin to understand the problem we had to deal with during the war
- begin an event that is implied and limited by the nature or inherent function of the direct object
- begin a cigar
- She started the soup while it was still hot
- We started physics in 10th grade
- have a beginning characterized in some specified way
- The novel begins with a murder
- My property begins with the three maple trees
- Her day begins with a workout
- The semester begins with a convocation ceremony
- have a beginning, of a temporal event
- WW II began in 1939 when Hitler marched into Poland
- The company's Asia tour begins next month
- be the first item or point, constitute the beginning or start, come first in a series
- The number `one' begins the sequence
- A terrible murder begins the novel
- The convocation ceremony officially begins the semester
- begin to speak or say
- Now listen, friends, he began
- set in motion, cause to start
- The U.S. started a war in the Middle East
- The Iraqis began hostilities
- begin a new chapter in your life
- have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative sense
- The DMZ begins right over the hill
- The second movement begins after the Allegro
- Prices for these homes start at $250,000
- take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
- We began working at dawn
- Who will start?
- Get working as soon as the sun rises!
- The first tourists began to arrive in Cambodia
- He began early in the day
- Let's get down to work now