Beginnen (to begin) — Full Conjugation | Dutch Grammar

Beginnen ("to begin, to start") looks deceptively simple, but it packs two traps that catch nearly every English-speaking learner. First, it is a strong verb of the i–o–o class — begin → begon → begonnen — so you cannot just bolt -de or -te onto the stem. Second, the prefix be- is inseparable and unstressed, which means the past participle takes no ge-: it is begonnen, never gebegonnen. And third — the one that quietly trips up even intermediate speakers — its perfect auxiliary is zijn, not hebben: Ik ben begonnen, because beginnen describes a change of state (from not-started to started). Get these three facts straight and the rest falls into place.

Principal parts

Infinitive	Simple past (sg.)	Past participle	Perfect auxiliary
beginnen	begon	begonnen	zijn

Classification: strong, inseparable prefix. The vowel pattern i–o–o (begin–begon–begonnen) is the same ablaut series as winnen → won → gewonnen and zwemmen → zwom → gezwommen. Because be- is an inseparable, unstressed prefix, the participle does not add ge-; the strong -en ending alone marks it.

Present tense

Person	Form	English
ik	begin	I begin
jij / je	begint	you begin
u	begint	you begin (formal)
hij / zij / het	begint	he / she / it begins
wij / we	beginnen	we begin
jullie	beginnen	you (pl.) begin
zij / ze	beginnen	they begin

The stem is begin (single n; the doubled nn only returns when an ending follows in the infinitive/plural, beginnen). Regular present endings apply: bare stem for ik, begint for jij/hij, beginnen for the plurals. When jij follows the verb, the -t drops as usual: begin jij?

Hoe laat begint de film?

What time does the film start? Third-person singular 'begint'.

Simple past: begon and begonnen

Strong past: singular begon, plural begonnen. Note that the plural past begonnen is spelled identically to the participle begonnen — context tells them apart (zij begonnen "they began" vs zijn begonnen "have begun").

Person	Past form
ik / jij / u / hij / zij / het	begon
wij / jullie / zij (pl.)	begonnen

Het regende net toen de wedstrijd begon.

It had just started raining when the match began. Singular strong past 'begon'.

The perfect: ben begonnen (zijn + no ge-)

Two things to lock in. The auxiliary is zijn — because starting is a transition into a new state, Dutch treats beginnen like a motion/change verb. And the participle is begonnen with no ge-, because of the inseparable be-.

Person	Perfect	English
ik	ben begonnen	I have begun
jij / u	bent begonnen	you have begun
hij / zij / het	is begonnen	he/she/it has begun
wij / jullie / zij	zijn begonnen	we/you/they have begun

We zijn vorige week met de cursus begonnen.

We started the course last week. 'zijn ... begonnen' — auxiliary zijn, participle without ge-.

beginnen te and beginnen met

To say what you start doing, Dutch offers two patterns:

beginnen te + infinitive — begin to do something. The te-infinitive goes to the end of the clause: Ze begon te lachen (she began to laugh).
beginnen met + noun / met te + infinitive — start with something, focusing on the first step: We beginnen met de soep (we'll start with the soup); Hij begon met te vertellen over... (he started by telling about...).
beginnen aan — make a start on a task or project: Ik ben aan een nieuw boek begonnen (I've started on a new book).

Toen ze dat hoorde, begon ze te huilen.

When she heard that, she began to cry. 'beginnen te' + infinitive at the clause end.

Zullen we met de afwas beginnen?

Shall we start with the dishes? 'beginnen met' + noun.

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Why zijn and not hebben? Beginnen marks a threshold — the moment something passes from not-happening to happening — and Dutch reserves zijn for exactly these change-of-state verbs (alongside motion verbs like gaan, komen, vertrekken). The same logic puts stoppen ("to stop") and eindigen ("to end") on zijn too: De film is al begonnen, De film is afgelopen. If you can rephrase the action as "X became started/finished," you are almost always looking at a zijn-verb.

Three model sentences

Ik weet niet waar ik moet beginnen.

I don't know where to start. The bare infinitive 'beginnen' at the clause end after the modal 'moet'.

Het begint koud te worden.

It's starting to get cold. Impersonal 'het begint' + 'te worden' — a very common weather/temperature frame.

Ben je al aan je huiswerk begonnen?

Have you started your homework yet? 'beginnen aan' in the perfect, with auxiliary 'zijn' and inverted 'je'.

Imperative

Form	Use	English
Begin!	singular command	Start! / Go!
Begin maar.	everyday encouragement	Go ahead and start.
Begin er niet over.	set phrase	Don't (even) bring it up.

Common Mistakes

❌ Ik heb om acht uur gebegonnen.

Incorrect twice — inseparable 'be-' takes no ge-, and the auxiliary is zijn: 'Ik ben ... begonnen'.

✅ Ik ben om acht uur begonnen.

I started at eight o'clock.

❌ Hij heeft met zijn nieuwe baan begonnen.

Incorrect — beginnen takes 'zijn' in the perfect, not 'hebben'.

✅ Hij is met zijn nieuwe baan begonnen.

He's started his new job.

❌ De les begonde te laat.

Incorrect — beginnen is strong; the past is 'begon', not a weak 'begonde'.

✅ De les begon te laat.

The lesson started too late.

❌ Ze begon lachen.

Incorrect — 'beginnen te' needs the 'te': 'begon te lachen'.

✅ Ze begon te lachen.

She began to laugh.

❌ Jij begin nu?

Incorrect — non-inverted 'jij' takes the -t: 'Jij begint nu?'

✅ Jij begint nu?

You're starting now?

Key Takeaways

Strong i–o–o verb: begin · begon / begonnen · begonnen.
Perfect auxiliary is zijn (change of state): ik ben begonnen.
Inseparable be- → no ge- in the participle: begonnen, never gebegonnen.
Plural past begonnen and participle begonnen are spelled alike — the auxiliary disambiguates.
Patterns: beginnen te
- infinitive, beginnen met
  - noun, beginnen aan
    - task.

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