verb · neutral
begin
UK/bɪˈgɪn/US/bɪˈɡɪn/be·GIN
Band 5-6speakingtask2
to start; to do the first part of an action or process
Examples
“The lecture began late because the speaker was delayed.”
“We will begin the project next semester.”
“She began to worry when the results didn't arrive.”
Band 8 sentence
“Although the initiative began as a small pilot, it has since scaled up to cover multiple regions and demographics.”
Collocations
- begin + to + verb / begin + -ing
- begin with something
Word family
begin verb (base)begins verb (3rd singular)beginning verb (present participle)/nounbegan verb (simple past)begun verb (past participle)
Common mistakes
beginned→began / begun
have began→have begun
Say it for a higher band
5open→6start→7+begin
Synonyms
start
commence
Easily confused
start
“We decided to start the survey in June.”
commence
“The conference will commence at nine o'clock.”
Related words
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In Irregular forms
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