{"id":5996,"date":"2022-05-11T06:00:22","date_gmt":"2022-05-11T11:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=5996"},"modified":"2022-05-09T13:53:05","modified_gmt":"2022-05-09T18:53:05","slug":"began-vs-begun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/verbs\/began-vs-begun\/","title":{"rendered":"Began<\/em> vs. Begun<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

English verbs are simple to work with when they are regular\u2014i.e., they follow an obvious pattern for conjugating their past tense and past participle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Verb Infinitive<\/strong><\/td>\nPresent Tense<\/strong><\/td>\nPast Tense<\/strong><\/td>\nPast Participle<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
to breathe<\/td>\nbreathe, breathes<\/td>\nbreathed<\/td>\nbreathed<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
to dine<\/td>\ndine, dines<\/td>\ndined<\/td>\ndined<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
to jump<\/td>\njump, jumps<\/td>\njumped<\/td>\njumped<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The pattern is basic and easy to recognize. However, English also includes many verbs that set their own patterns, sometimes without apparent reason. We refer to these as irregular verbs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Verb Infinitive<\/strong><\/td>\nPresent Tense<\/strong><\/td>\nPast Tense<\/strong><\/td>\nPast Participle<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
to draw<\/td>\ndraw, draws<\/td>\ndrew<\/td>\ndrawn<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
to lie<\/td>\nlie, lies<\/td>\nlay<\/td>\nlain<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
to swim<\/td>\nswim, swims<\/td>\nswam<\/td>\nswum<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

As we see, irregular verbs have distinct conjugations that often provide little assistance in understanding how to conjugate other irregular verbs. We simply learn and remember them.<\/p>\n

Another irregular verb is begin, <\/em>which in its infinitive form means “to start; originate, arise; come into existence; proceed to perform the first or earliest part of some action.”<\/p>\n

Here’s how we would conjugate begin<\/em> as an irregular verb:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Verb Infinitive<\/strong><\/td>\nPresent Tense<\/strong><\/td>\nPast Tense<\/strong><\/td>\nPast Participle<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
to begin<\/td>\nbegin, begins<\/td>\nbegan<\/td>\nbegun<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Begin<\/em><\/h2>\n

The present tense of begin <\/em>is either begin <\/em>or begins<\/em> depending on whether it is being used in the first, second, or third person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
first person singular<\/strong><\/td>\nI begin<\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\nfirst person plural<\/strong><\/td>\nwe begin<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
second person singular<\/strong><\/td>\nyou begin<\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\nsecond person plural<\/strong><\/td>\nyou begin<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
third person singular<\/strong><\/td>\nhe\/she\/it begins<\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\nthird person plural<\/strong><\/td>\nthey begin<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Examples<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I begin<\/u> my night class on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Scott begins<\/u> soccer practice at 4:00 p.m.<\/p>\n

They usually begin<\/u> serving dessert right after supper.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What Is the Difference Between Began<\/em> and Begun<\/em>? Began<\/u><\/em><\/h2>\n

The past tense of begin <\/em>is began <\/em>for the first, second, and third person singular and plural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
first person singular<\/strong><\/td>\nI began<\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\nfirst person plural<\/strong><\/td>\nwe began<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
second person singular<\/strong><\/td>\nyou began<\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\nsecond person plural<\/strong><\/td>\nyou began<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
third person singular<\/strong><\/td>\nhe\/she\/it began<\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\nthird person plural<\/strong><\/td>\nthey began<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Examples<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I’m sure the paint on the boat began<\/u> peeling last summer.<\/p>\n

It began<\/u> to rain while I was locked out of the house.<\/p>\n

We began<\/u> our drive to Arkansas this morning.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What Is the Difference Between Began<\/em> and Begun<\/em>? Begun<\/u><\/em><\/h2>\n

The past participle<\/a> of begin <\/em>is begun <\/em>for the first, second, and third person singular and plural. It is commonly used in perfect tenses (e.g., past perfect<\/a>) and the passive voice<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
first person singular<\/strong><\/td>\nI had begun<\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\nfirst person plural<\/strong><\/td>\nwe had begun<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
second person singular<\/strong><\/td>\nyou had begun<\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\nsecond person plural<\/strong><\/td>\nyou had begun<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
third person singular<\/strong><\/td>\nhe\/she\/it had begun<\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\nthird person plural<\/strong><\/td>\nthey had begun<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Examples<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Shane had\u00a0begun<\/u>\u00a0playing piano before he turned seven years old.\u00a0(past perfect)<\/p>\n

The sun has begun<\/u> to set over the sea. (present perfect<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The document research was begun<\/u> by Loretta’s paralegal. (passive voice)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Related Topics<\/h3>\n

Ring vs. Rang vs. Rung<\/a>
\nWhy Irregular Verbs Are Strong<\/a><\/p>\n

Pop Quiz<\/h2>\n

Complete each sentence with the proper form of begin<\/em> (begin\/begins, began, begun<\/em>).<\/p>\n

1. The opening ceremonies for the competition have _______.<\/p>\n

2. We _______ learning as soon as we recognize how little we know.<\/p>\n

3. Patricia _________ preschool tomorrow.<\/p>\n

4. The construction for the new civic center was ________ last month.<\/p>\n

5. The parade ________ before I could get there on time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pop Quiz Answers<\/h3>\n

1. The opening ceremonies for the competition have begun<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

2. We begin <\/strong>learning as soon as we recognize how little we know.<\/p>\n

3. Patricia begins <\/strong>preschool tomorrow.<\/p>\n

4. The construction for the new civic center was begun <\/strong>last month.<\/p>\n

5. The parade began <\/strong>before I could get there on time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

English verbs are simple to work with when they are regular\u2014i.e., they follow an obvious pattern for conjugating their past tense and past participle. Verb Infinitive Present Tense Past Tense Past Participle to breathe breathe, breathes breathed breathed to dine dine, dines dined dined to jump jump, jumps jumped jumped The pattern is basic and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-verbs"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5996"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5996"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6002,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5996\/revisions\/6002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}