Word
began
Phoneticsbe·gan
US/biˈɡæn/
UK/bɪɡˈæn/
Definition
v. the past tense of 'begin'.
v. the simple past form of 'begin'.
Examples
“The movie began ten minutes ago.”
“The rain began just as we stepped out of the car, so we ran for cover.”
“The industrial revolution began in the eighteenth century and fundamentally altered the social and economic landscape of the entire world.”
Examples
simple
“The movie began ten minutes ago.”
contextual
“The rain began just as we stepped out of the car, so we ran for cover.”
complex
“The industrial revolution began in the eighteenth century and fundamentally altered the social and economic landscape of the entire world.”
Usage
This is the simple past form and does not take an auxiliary verb like 'have' or 'had'.
Pitfall
The movie has began.
The movie has begun.
Use 'began' for the simple past (it started) and 'begun' for the past participle (it has started).
Synonyms
Antonyms
Collocations
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/began