begin ("to begin") and eindig ("to end") are the two verbs you reach for to mark where something starts and where it stops — a film, a year, a meeting, a relationship. They make a natural start-and-end pair, but they are also worth learning together because their past tenses are built in opposite ways. begin takes no ge- (the perfect is just het begin), while eindig is a plain regular verb that takes the full ge- prefix — and that prefix forces a spelling twist: het geëindig, with a diaeresis. This page covers their forms and the small grammar they pull along with them. (For the related contrast between begin and its true opposite of stopping an activity, ophou, see begin and ophou.)
The forms, side by side
| Form | begin (begin) | eindig (end) |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | (om te) begin | (om te) eindig |
| Present (all persons) | ek / jy / hy begin | ek / jy / hy eindig |
| Perfect (past) | het begin | het geëindig |
| Future | sal begin | sal eindig |
| Imperative (sg.) | Begin! | Eindig! |
Afrikaans, like English, has no person endings on the verb — one present form (begin, eindig) serves ek, jy, hy, ons and hulle alike. The whole story of this pair lives in the perfect row, so let us take the two verbs one at a time.
Die fliek begin om agtuur — kom ons koop solank popcorn.
The film starts at eight — let's buy popcorn in the meantime.
Die jaar eindig in Desember, en dan vat ons 'n lang vakansie.
The year ends in December, and then we take a long holiday.
Why begin has no ge-
Afrikaans normally builds the perfect by gluing ge- to the stem: werk → gewerk, speel → gespeel. But a verb that already opens with an unstressed, inseparable prefix refuses that ge-. begin is exactly such a verb: the be- at the front is a toneless prefix (you say be-gín, with the weight on the second syllable), and Afrikaans does not stack a second toneless prefix on top of it. So the past participle is simply begin — spelt and pronounced identically to the present. The only thing that signals the past is the auxiliary het.
Dit het gister begin reën net toe ons by die strand aankom.
It started raining yesterday just as we arrived at the beach.
Sy het begin huil toe sy die goeie nuus hoor.
She started crying when she heard the good news.
Ek het lankal begin spaar vir die reis.
I started saving for the trip a long time ago.
This places begin firmly among the inseparable prefix verbs — the be-, ver-, ont-, her- group, none of which take ge-.
Why eindig becomes het geëindig
eindig is the opposite case: it is a completely ordinary, fully regular verb with no prefix at all, so it takes the normal ge- in the perfect. eindig → ge + eindig. But here orthography intervenes. Gluing ge- directly in front of a stem that starts with ei- would produce the string geeindig, where the three vowels run together and a reader would not know where one syllable ends and the next begins. Afrikaans solves this with a diaeresis (deelteken) on the second e: geëindig. The two dots say "start a new syllable here" — ge-ëin-dig, not gee-.... The diaeresis is not optional decoration; leaving it off is a spelling error, the same kind as forgetting an apostrophe.
Die vergadering het vroeër geëindig as wat ons verwag het.
The meeting ended earlier than we expected.
Hul huwelik het ná tien jaar geëindig.
Their marriage ended after ten years.
Die wedstryd het gelykop geëindig — een elk.
The match ended in a draw — one all.
So het begin versus het geëindig is a tidy minimal contrast: one verb refuses ge- because of its toneless prefix; the other takes ge- in full and even has to mark the seam with a diaeresis. Same start-and-end job, opposite past-tense mechanics.
What follows begin: the complement
begin usually introduces a second verb — the activity that is starting. There are three patterns, and English speakers should note that all three are normal:
- begin + bare infinitive: begin huil, begin reën, begin werk — the most common in speech.
- begin + te + infinitive: begin te huil — slightly more careful.
- begin om te + infinitive: begin om te huil — the fullest, most written-sounding version.
Hy het begin lag toe hy die prentjie sien.
He started laughing when he saw the picture.
Ons begin om die kombuis skoon te maak voor die gaste kom.
We're starting to clean the kitchen before the guests arrive.
There is also begin met, but only in the narrow sense of making a start on a task framed as a noun: begin met die werk ("make a start on the work"). For ordinary "start doing X," use the infinitive, not met.
Kom ons begin met die moeilikste deel terwyl ons nog vars is.
Let's start with the hardest part while we're still fresh.
What follows eindig: how things end
eindig is most often used with a manner adverb or a phrase describing how something ends — well, badly, in a draw, in December. The pattern is eindig + [manner / time / place].
As jy nie oppas nie, gaan dit sleg eindig.
If you're not careful, this is going to end badly.
Die storie eindig gelukkig, soos 'n goeie sprokie moet.
The story ends happily, the way a good fairy tale should.
Die straat eindig by die rivier — daar's geen brug nie.
The street ends at the river — there's no bridge.
Common mistakes
❌ Dit het gister gebegin reën.
Incorrect — begin never takes ge-; the toneless be- prefix blocks it.
✅ Dit het gister begin reën.
It started raining yesterday.
The single most common error is treating begin like a regular verb and gluing ge- to it. The form gebegin does not exist; the perfect is the bare het begin.
❌ Die fliek het om agtuur geeindig.
Spelling error — without the diaeresis the vowels collapse; it must be geëindig.
✅ Die fliek het om agtuur geëindig.
The film ended at eight.
eindig does take ge-, but the result must be spelt geëindig, with the diaeresis marking the syllable break.
❌ Sy het begin om huil.
Incorrect — with om you need the te: begin om te huil; or drop om entirely: begin huil.
✅ Sy het begin huil.
She started crying.
If you reach for om, you must complete the frame with te (begin om te huil). The shortest natural option is simply begin huil.
❌ Die jaar eindig op Desember.
Wrong preposition — months take in, not op: eindig in Desember.
✅ Die jaar eindig in Desember.
The year ends in December.
Key takeaways
- begin is inseparable and takes no ge-: the perfect is het begin, identical to the present.
- eindig is fully regular and takes ge-, but spelt het geëindig — the diaeresis marks the syllable break and is required.
- They form a natural start-and-end pair whose past tenses are built in opposite ways — the cleanest illustration of why some Afrikaans verbs skip ge- and others take it.
- begin introduces an activity with a bare infinitive (begin huil) or with (om) te (begin om te huil); reserve begin met for "make a start on" a task.
- eindig pairs with a manner or time phrase: eindig sleg, eindig in Desember, eindig by die rivier.
Now practice Afrikaans
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Phasal Verbs: begin, ophou, aanhou, gaanB1 — The verbs that mark the start, continuation, and end of an action — begin (start), ophou (stop), aanhou (keep on), and inchoative gaan — and the complements each one takes.
- Inseparable Prefixes: be-, ver-, ont-, her-, er-, ge-B1 — The unstressed bound prefixes be-, ge-, her-, ont-, ver- and er- that never detach from the verb and suppress the ge- of the past participle — with stress as the diagnostic.
- begin and ophou — to begin and stopB1 — Full forms of begin (inseparable, no ge-: het begin) and ophou (separable, ge- infix: het opgehou) — the cleanest minimal pair for the two Afrikaans participle types, plus their te- and met- complements.