Beginnen: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German
Introduction
Beginnen means “to begin”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in German — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for beginnen, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with beginnen, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Ich beginne um acht Uhr jeden Tag.” — “I begin at eight o'clock every day.”
- “Du beginnst mit einem Lied jeden Tag.” — “You begin with a song every day.”
- “Ich habe am Morgen begonnen gestern.” — “I have begun in the morning yesterday.”
- “Er begann um acht Uhr gestern.” — “He began at eight o'clock yesterday.”
- “Wir werden mit einem Lied beginnen morgen.” — “We will begin with a song tomorrow.”
- “Du hast am Morgen begonnen gestern.” — “You have begun in the morning yesterday.”
- “Ich begänne um acht Uhr eines Tages.” — “I would begin at eight o'clock one day.”
- “Es ist wichtig, dass er beginne mit einem Lied.” — “It is important that he begin with a song.”
- “Wir hatten am Morgen begonnen vor der Party.” — “We had begun in the morning before the party.”
- “Er wird um acht Uhr beginnen morgen.” — “He will begin at eight o'clock tomorrow.”
- “Sie beginnen mit einem Lied jeden Tag.” — “They begin with a song every day.”
- “Beginn am Morgen!” — “Begin in the morning!”
A short dialogue
Lena and Jonas are talking about at eight o'clock. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how beginnen changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of beginnen below is taken from the verified tables.
Lena: “Du beginnst um acht Uhr jeden Tag.” — “You begin at eight o'clock every day.” Jonas: “Ich beginne um acht Uhr jeden Tag.” — “I begin at eight o'clock every day.” Lena: “Du wirst mit einem Lied beginnen morgen.” — “You will begin with a song tomorrow.” Jonas: “Ich werde mit einem Lied beginnen morgen.” — “I will begin with a song tomorrow.” Lena: “Du hast am Morgen begonnen gestern.” — “You have begun in the morning yesterday.” Jonas: “Ich habe am Morgen begonnen gestern.” — “I have begun in the morning yesterday.” Lena: “Du begännest um acht Uhr eines Tages.” — “You would begin at eight o'clock one day.” Jonas: “Ich begänne um acht Uhr eines Tages.” — “I would begin at eight o'clock one day.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the Perfekt for yesterday, and Konjunktiv II for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Beginnen in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of beginnen that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, beginnen describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is beginne: “Ich beginne um acht Uhr jeden Tag.” — “I begin at eight o'clock every day.”
The preterite: the past in stories
In the preterite, beginnen describes a completed past action, mostly in writing and stories. The er form is begann: “Er begann mit einem Lied gestern.” — “He began with a song yesterday.”
The Perfekt: finished actions
In the Perfekt, beginnen reports one finished action, built with haben plus the participle begonnen. The ich form is habe begonnen: “Ich habe am Morgen begonnen gestern.” — “I have begun in the morning yesterday.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, beginnen talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden beginnen: “Wir werden um acht Uhr beginnen morgen.” — “We will begin at eight o'clock tomorrow.”
Konjunktiv II: what would happen
In Konjunktiv II, beginnen talks about what would happen. Konjunktiv II doubles as the conditional, and the periphrastic alternative with würde plus the infinitive expresses the same meaning. The du form is begännest: “Du begännest mit einem Lied eines Tages.” — “You would begin with a song one day.”
Konjunktiv I: reported speech
In Konjunktiv I, beginnen appears in reported speech, after triggers such as es ist wichtig, dass. The form is beginne, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich beginne am Morgen.” — “It is important that I begin in the morning.”
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich beginnen um acht Uhr.”
✓ Right: “Ich beginne um acht Uhr.”
The infinitive beginnen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form beginne.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Du beginne um acht Uhr.”
✓ Right: “Du beginnst um acht Uhr.”
beginne is the ich form. With du you need beginnst. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Ich beginne um acht Uhr gestern.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe um acht Uhr begonnen gestern.”
The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe begonnen, not the present.
Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass du beginnst mit einem Lied.”
✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass du beginnest mit einem Lied.”
After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I: beginnest, not the indicative beginnst.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich begonnen um acht Uhr.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe um acht Uhr begonnen.”
The Perfekt of beginnen needs the auxiliary haben plus the participle begonnen: the full ich form is habe begonnen.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on beginnen. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of beginnen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) beginne
- B) beginnst
- C) beginnt
- D) beginnen
What is the du form of beginnen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) beginnt
- B) beginnen
- C) beginnst
- D) beginne
What is the er/sie/es form of beginnen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) habe begonnen
- B) hast begonnen
- C) haben begonnen
- D) hat begonnen
What is the wir form of beginnen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) begannst
- B) begannt
- C) begannen
- D) begann
What is the du form of beginnen in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) werden beginnen
- B) wirst beginnen
- C) werde beginnen
- D) wird beginnen
What is the ich form of beginnen in the Konjunktiv II?
- A) begännet
- B) begänne
- C) begännest
- D) begännen
What is the er/sie/es form of beginnen in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) beginne
- B) beginnest
- C) beginnen
- D) beginnet
What is the ich form of beginnen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hatten begonnen
- B) hattet begonnen
- C) hatte begonnen
- D) hattest begonnen
What is the past participle (Partizip II) of beginnen?
- A) begonnen
- B) geendet
- C) geöffnet
- D) geschlossen
What does beginnen mean in English?
- A) to begin
- B) to end
- C) to open
- D) to close
Answer key
- A) beginne — the ich form of beginnen in the Present (Präsens) is beginne. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) beginnst — the du form of beginnen in the Present (Präsens) is beginnst. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) hat begonnen — the er/sie/es form of beginnen in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat begonnen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) begannen — the wir form of beginnen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is begannen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) wirst beginnen — the du form of beginnen in the Future (Futur I) is wirst beginnen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) begänne — the ich form of beginnen in the Konjunktiv II is begänne. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) beginne — the er/sie/es form of beginnen in the Konjunktiv I is beginne. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) hatte begonnen — the ich form of beginnen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatte begonnen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) begonnen — the past participle of beginnen is begonnen. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- A) to begin — beginnen means “to begin” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does beginnen mean in English?
beginnen means “to begin”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is beginnen regular or irregular?
beginnen is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. Partizip I is beginnend and Partizip II is begonnen.
How do I practise beginnen every day?
Say one sentence with beginnen in the present, one in the Perfekt and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Ich beginne um acht Uhr jeden Tag.”, “Ich habe um acht Uhr begonnen gestern.” and “Ich werde um acht Uhr beginnen morgen.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for beginnen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of beginnen — every tense of beginnen in one place.
- Beginnen in the Perfekt tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Beginnen examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Enden conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Öffnen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Schließen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- German irregular verbs — every common irregular German verb, grouped by pattern.
- German verbs — the full hub of German conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — practise beginnen with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise beginnen with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise beginnen with the interactive tool.