Structure
Verb[ます]+ はじめる
Details
Register
Standard
About はじめる
To express that actions are beginning or ending in Japanese, the verbs 始める (to commence), or 終わる (to end) will need to be used. In this lesson, we will focus on actions that are 'beginning'.
To say that (A) is starting/beginning, we will need to attach はじめる to the ます stem of almost any verb. Whether you use the hiragana form, or the kanji form does not matter, as there will be no change in nuance.
Due to はじめる being a verb itself, the tense can be changed, to show that something will start, is starting, or has started.
Caution
It can be easy to accidentally use 始まる, the intransitive form of this verb. However, with this expression, the transitive form will always be used, due to the verb that はじめる is attached to being the thing that 'is started', by 'something' else.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Examples
--:--
Get more example sentences!
Premium users get access to 12 example sentences on all Grammar Points.
今朝、雪が降りはじめた。
It started to snow this morning.
明日から、日本語を習いはじめます。
I will start learning Japanese from tomorrow.
練習しはじめてください。
Please begin to (do) practice.
9時になってから、働きはじめた。
I started working from nine.
彼が話し始めてから1時間経った。
It has been an hour since he started talking.
Self-Study Sentences
Study your own way!
Add sentences and study them alongside Bunpro sentences.
Online
There are no Online resources listed for 「はじめる」.
You can . Resources are constantly updated, come back later to see new additions!
Offline
There are no Offline resources listed for 「はじめる」.
You can . Resources are constantly updated, come back later to see new additions!
Track Resources!
Bunpro tracks all of the resources you’ve visited, and offers relevant bookmarks of physical books to help with offline tracking.
はじめる – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (15 in total)
Yumari-1
Thanks for the quick answer!
I think I get it now. The point being that the main meaning of から is always “from/because” and if we change てから to たから, the から particle reverts back to its more primary meaning (no longer means “once … then something else”) and hence stops working with this particular example.
I hope my understanding is not messed up.
Hqrshy
I’ve seen other stuff like this and I am kind of confused. Why is it はじめた instead of はじまた because nobody is causing the snow to fall, it is falling by itself shouldn’t the intransitive version be used?
nekoyama
When 始める is used as an auxiliary, the main verb is what determines transitivity. 降り始める is therefore intransitive because 降る is intransitive.
You can think of it as 降り acting as the object for 始める.
始まる isn’t used as an auxiliary and if it was, its past form would be 始まった.
Got questions about はじめる? Join us to discuss, ask, and learn together!
Join the Discussion