Begynne ("to begin / to start") is one of the first hundred verbs you will need, because almost everything in Norwegian has a beginning: a film, a lesson, a job, a sentence. It is a well-behaved weak Class 2 verb, so its conjugation holds no surprises — but its syntax does. The English speaker's two recurring problems are forgetting the little word å before a following infinitive, and choosing the wrong preposition after it. This page nails down both.
Conjugation
Begynne follows the weak Class 2 pattern: preterite in -te, supine (the har form) in bare -t. Note the double n that runs through every form, and the way the preterite simply replaces the infinitive's final -e with -te.
| Form (Norwegian term) | Begynne | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitiv (infinitive) | (å) begynne | (to) begin |
| Presens (present) | begynner | begin(s) / am beginning |
| Preteritum (past) | begynte | began |
| Perfektum (perfect) | har begynt | have begun |
| Imperativ (imperative) | begynn! | begin! / start! |
Two spelling points worth tattooing onto your memory. First, the supine is begynt with a single -t — not *begynnt, and not the Class 1 form *begynnet. Second, the imperative is begynn! with both n's: you strip only the final -e of the infinitive, and the stem genuinely ends in a double n.
Filmen begynner klokka åtte.
The film begins at eight o'clock.
Vi begynte litt for sent, så vi rakk ikke alt.
We began a little too late, so we didn't get through everything.
Har du begynt på boka jeg ga deg?
Have you started the book I gave you?
The big one: begynne å + infinitive
To say "begin to do something" or "start doing something", Norwegian uses begynne å + the plain infinitive. The å is the infinitive marker (the same little word you meet in å spise, å gå), and it is not optional here. English happily says "I'm beginning to understand" or "I'm beginning understand" — well, no, English uses to — but the deeper trap is that English also allows the bare -ing form ("start swimming"), which has no Norwegian equivalent. Norwegian has no gerund; after begynne you always reach for å + infinitive.
Jeg begynner å forstå hvordan det henger sammen.
I'm beginning to understand how it fits together.
Det begynte å regne akkurat da vi gikk ut.
It started to rain just as we went out.
Når begynte du å lære norsk?
When did you start learning Norwegian?
begynne på vs begynne med
When the thing you are starting is a noun (not another verb), the preposition splits two ways, and the choice carries meaning:
- begynne på = to start on something, to embark on a defined object or path — a book, a course, a task, a new school. The focus is the thing you set out into.
- begynne med = to start with something — either the first item in a sequence, or taking up an activity/habit as a new pursuit.
| Construction | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| begynne å + inf. | begin to do | begynne å lese |
| begynne på + noun | start on (a book, course, job) | begynne på jobben |
| begynne med + noun | start with / take up | begynne med yoga |
Hun begynte på universitetet i høst.
She started at university this autumn.
La oss begynne med det enkleste først.
Let's start with the easiest thing first.
Jeg har begynt med løping tre ganger i uka.
I've taken up running three times a week.
begynne vs starte
Norwegian also has starte, a loan that overlaps heavily with begynne. For everyday "begin / start", they are usually interchangeable, and begynne is the more native, slightly softer choice. But starte is preferred when you switch a machine or engine on, and when you found or launch something — a company, a project, an initiative. You start a car (starte bilen); you do not *begynne bilen. Conversely, abstract beginnings ("it began to feel cold") lean toward begynne.
Bilen ville ikke starte i kulda.
The car wouldn't start in the cold.
De startet sitt eget firma i fjor.
They started their own company last year.
Det begynner å bli kaldt om kvelden nå.
It's beginning to get cold in the evenings now.
Common mistakes
❌ Jeg begynner svømme klokka seks.
Incorrect — missing å before the infinitive.
✅ Jeg begynner å svømme klokka seks.
I start swimming at six o'clock.
❌ Vi begynnet for sent.
Incorrect — Class 1 ending; begynne is Class 2.
✅ Vi begynte for sent.
We began too late.
❌ Har du begynnt med kurset?
Incorrect — double-t supine; the supine is begynt.
✅ Har du begynt på kurset?
Have you started the course?
❌ Hun begynte å universitetet i høst.
Incorrect — å is the infinitive marker, not a preposition; with a noun you need på.
✅ Hun begynte på universitetet i høst.
She started at university this autumn.
Key takeaways
- begynne / begynner / begynte / har begynt / begynn! — weak Class 2, double n throughout, single-t supine.
- Before another verb: begynne å
- infinitive. The å is mandatory and replaces the English "-ing".
- Before a noun: begynne på (start on a book/course/job) or begynne med (start with / take up).
- Use starte for engines, machines, and founding things; begynne for most other beginnings.
Now practice Norwegian
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Start learning Norwegian→Related Topics
- Weak Class 2: -te / -t (spise)A2 — The -te class — preterite in -te, supine in -t (spise → spiste → har spist) — its voiceless-consonant logic, and the one-letter difference between preterite and supine.
- The Infinitive and the Marker åA1 — The dictionary form of the verb, the infinitive marker å ('to') and when it appears, why modal verbs take a bare infinitive, and how å contrasts with the identical-sounding conjunction og.
- The Present Perfect: har + supineA2 — How to build the Norwegian present perfect with har plus the invariant supine — and why Norwegian uses har for every verb, including come, go and be.
- i vs på vs om: TimeA2 — The full systematic range of time prepositions — i (duration, this-period, years), på (named days, completion-within), om (future, habitual times of day), plus ved and for…siden — with the duration-vs-completion trap.