Begynde means "to begin" or "to start." It is the standard, slightly more neutral of the two everyday "start" verbs (the other being starte), and it is the one to reach for when something gets under way. The two things to nail down are its prepositions — begynde at vs begynde med — and the difference in flavour from starte.
Principal parts
Begynde is a weak -te verb. Note the silent d in the stem: you write begynd- but the d is not pronounced, which is why the past is begyndte (with -te added straight onto that silent d).
| Form | Danish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | (at) begynde | (to) begin / start |
| Present | begynder | begin(s) / start(s) |
| Past | begyndte | began / started |
| Past participle | begyndt | begun / started |
| Imperative | begynd! | begin! / start! |
The present perfect uses har: jeg har begyndt. Keep that silent d in every form: begynder, begyndte, begyndt.
Begynde at + infinitive — "start to / start doing"
The default pattern for "start doing something" is begynde at + infinitive. This is by far the most common construction.
Det begynder at regne.
It's starting to rain.
Hun begyndte at grine, da hun så billedet.
She started laughing when she saw the picture.
Jeg er lige begyndt at lære dansk.
I've just started learning Danish.
Here at is the infinitive marker ("to"), and the following verb stays in its bare infinitive form. (For when Danish does and doesn't use this at, see the infinitive and 'at'.)
Begynde med — "start with"
Use begynde med when you mean "start with (something)" — choosing what comes first.
Lad os begynde med det vigtigste.
Let's start with the most important thing.
Vi begyndte med en kop kaffe og en snak.
We started with a cup of coffee and a chat.
There is also the fixed adverbial phrase til at begynde med, meaning "to begin with / at first":
Til at begynde med forstod jeg ingenting.
To begin with, I didn't understand anything.
Begynde without an object — "(it) starts"
Begynde is also fully intransitive: an event simply begins.
Filmen begynder klokken otte.
The film starts at eight.
Hvornår begynder skolen efter ferien?
When does school start after the holidays?
Begynde vs starte
Begynde and starte are close synonyms and usually interchangeable, but there is a register and usage nuance:
| Verb | Flavour | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| begynde | neutral, slightly more bookish | processes, events, "start to do" (begynde at) |
| starte | a touch more casual/concrete | engines, machines, businesses, races; "get going" |
For starting an engine or launching a company, starte is the natural choice; you would not say begynde bilen. For "starting to feel / starting to rain," begynde at is idiomatic.
Bilen vil ikke starte i kulden.
The car won't start in the cold. (starte — an engine)
Jeg begynder at blive sulten.
I'm starting to get hungry. (begynde at — a process)
Across the tenses
| Tense | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| Present | Mødet begynder nu. | The meeting is starting now. |
| Past | Mødet begyndte til tiden. | The meeting started on time. |
| Present perfect | Mødet er lige begyndt. | The meeting has just started. |
Notice that the perfect in the last row uses er, not har. Standard Danish keeps har begyndt for the transitive sense ("har begyndt at læse"). With an unaccusative reading ("the meeting has started") you will hear both er begyndt and har begyndt; er begyndt is very common and natural for events that have simply gotten under way.
Common collocations
- begynde at … — start to / start doing …
- begynde med … — start with …
- til at begynde med — to begin with / at first
- begynde forfra / på en frisk — start over / start fresh
- begynde i skole / på et nyt job — start school / a new job
Hun begynder på et nyt job på mandag.
She starts a new job on Monday.
A short dialogue
— Hvornår begynder vi? — Lad os begynde med en kort runde, og så begynder vi at arbejde i grupper.
— When do we start? — Let's start with a quick round, and then we'll start working in groups.
Common mistakes
❌ Jeg begyndte til at regne.
Wrong preposition — it's 'begynde at', not 'begynde til at'.
✅ Det begyndte at regne.
It started to rain.
❌ Lad os begynde at kapitel et.
Wrong — choosing a starting point uses 'med', not 'at'.
✅ Lad os begynde med kapitel et.
Let's start with chapter one.
❌ Jeg har begynde at lære dansk.
Wrong — the perfect needs the participle 'begyndt'.
✅ Jeg er begyndt at lære dansk.
I've started learning Danish.
❌ Bilen vil ikke begynde.
Wrong verb for an engine — use 'starte'.
✅ Bilen vil ikke starte.
The car won't start.
❌ Han begynte at synge.
Wrong spelling — keep the silent stem 'd': 'begyndte'.
✅ Han begyndte at synge.
He started to sing.
Key takeaways
- Begynde is weak with a silent stem d: present begynder, past begyndte, participle begyndt — one form per tense, every subject.
- begynde at
- verb = "start to do"; begynde med
- noun = "start with."
- verb = "start to do"; begynde med
- Begynde is neutral; starte is a touch more casual and is the verb for engines, machines, and businesses.
Now practice Danish
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- The Infinitive and the Marker AtA1 — The Danish infinitive, the infinitive marker at ('to'), when to use it and when to drop it — and the notorious at/og spelling trap.
- Weak Past: The -te ClassA2 — The second weak class of Danish verbs — past in -te, participle in -t — and how to tell it apart from the larger -ede class.
- The Present PerfectA2 — How Danish builds the present perfect with have (or være) plus the past participle — and the one rule English speakers need: definite past time takes the simple past, not the perfect.
- The Present TenseA1 — How to form the Danish present (add -r) and why one present form covers English's simple present, present continuous, and 'going to' future.
- The ImperativeA1 — How to give commands, requests and suggestions in Danish — the bare-stem imperative, polite softeners, and the idiomatic 'don't' with lad være med at.