begin is one of the 1000 most common headwords.
before - begin - behind

Pronunciation

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  • IPA (key): /bɪˈɡɪn/ or /bəˈɡɪn/ or /biˈɡɪn/
  • (file)
  • (file)

Plain form
begin

Third-person singular
begins

Past tense
began

Past participle
begun

Present participle
beginning

  1. (transitive & intransitive) When you begin something, you start to do the first part of a longer action.
    A journey always begins with a first step.
    You can not get to the end of any job before you begin.
    He began to read the book at the first page.
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