Общее собрание начнётся сегодня.

Because it agrees with собрание, and собрание is a neuter singular noun.

• общий = the dictionary form, masculine singular
• общее = neuter singular nominative

So общее собрание means general meeting or general assembly, with the adjective matching the noun in gender, number, and case.

It is in the nominative case.

That is because общее собрание is the subject of the sentence — it is the thing that will begin.

• общее = nominative neuter singular
• собрание = nominative neuter singular

Here, the noun is singular nominative, so the form is собрание.

Собрания could be:

• genitive singular
• nominative plural
• accusative plural

But in this sentence we need a singular subject: The meeting will begin today, so собрание is the correct form.

Собрание comes from a root related to gathering or assembly. Depending on context, it can mean:

• meeting
• assembly
• gathering

In this sentence, meeting is the most natural translation.

Both spellings are seen in real texts, but начнётся is the fully correct spelling with ё.

Important point:

• ё is often written as е in everyday Russian writing
• even when written е, it is still usually pronounced yo here

So:

• written carefully: начнётся
• often written in normal text: начнется
• pronunciation: nachnyotsya

It comes from the verb начаться, which means to begin or to start.

This is the 3rd person singular future form:

• начаться = to begin
• начнётся = will begin

Since the subject is общее собрание (singular), the verb is singular too.

Russian often uses a reflexive verb where English simply says begin.

• начать = to begin something / to start something
• начаться = to begin, to start

So:

• Они начнут собрание = They will begin the meeting
• Собрание начнётся = The meeting will begin

In your sentence, the meeting itself is the thing beginning, so начаться is the right verb.

In Russian, the future is often built directly into the verb form.

Here, начаться is a perfective verb, and perfective verbs use a simple future form:

• начнётся = will begin

Russian does not need a separate word like English will here.

Начинается means is beginning, begins, or sometimes is starting, and it comes from the imperfective verb начинаться.

Compare:

• Собрание начинается сегодня. = The meeting begins/is beginning today.
• Собрание начнётся сегодня. = The meeting will begin today.

Your sentence uses начнётся because it presents the beginning as a future completed event: at some point today, it will start.

Сегодня means today, and here it is an adverb of time.

It does not change form for case, gender, or number in this sentence. It simply tells you when the meeting will begin.

Russian has no articles like English a or the.

So общее собрание can mean:

• a general meeting
• the general meeting

The exact meaning depends on context. In many situations, English would naturally translate it as the general meeting.

Yes. Russian word order is more flexible than English because the grammar is shown by endings rather than position.

The neutral order here is:

• Общее собрание начнётся сегодня.

But you could also say:

• Сегодня начнётся общее собрание.
• Начнётся сегодня общее собрание.

These versions are grammatically possible, but they shift emphasis:

• Сегодня first emphasizes today
• начнётся first can sound more dramatic or stylistically marked

A helpful pronunciation guide is:

Obshcheye sobrániye nachnyótsya segódnya.

A few key points:

• общее has a soft shch sound: obsh-cheye
• собрание has stress on бра: sobRÁniye
• начнётся has stress on ё: nachnyÓtsya
• сегодня usually sounds like segódnya

If you ignore ё and pronounce начнётся as if it had plain е, it will sound wrong.

Yes, very often it is.

Общее собрание is a common phrase meaning:

• general meeting
• general assembly

You may see it in official, school, workplace, legal, or organizational contexts. It often refers to a meeting of all members of a group rather than a small committee.