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Auxiliary Verb (Group 2)
| Someone/something begins to do something or begins to be in some state. | Begin to |
| 【Related Expression: ~出す; 来る2】 | |
| 【Antonym Expression: ~終わる】 | |
(ks). 明日からレポートを書き始める・始めます。
I'll begin to write my paper tomorrow.
| Vます | はじめる | |
| 話しはじめる | Someone begins to talk | |
| 食べはじめる | Someone begins to eat |
(a). 私は八月から源氏物語を読み始めました。
I began to read The Tale of Genji in August.
(b). 日本の経済は１９６４年の東京オリンピックのころから強くなり始めた。
The Japanese economy began to strengthen about the time of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
(c). A:いつから切手を集め始めたんですか。 B:子供の時から集め始めました。
A: When did you start to collect stamps? B: I started to collect them (literally: since) I was a child.
1. Verbます始める conjugates exactly like the Group 2 Verb 始める.
| ない | informal, negative, nonpast | |
| ます | formal, nonpast | |
| 話しはじめ | る | informal, nonpast |
| 食べはじめ | れば | conditional |
| よう | volitional | |
| た | て form | |
| た | informal, past |
2. For the sentence (1) below, there are two honorific versions, depending on which part of Verbます始める is changed into an honorific form; if the Verbます is changed into an honorific form, it will become (2a) and if the entire Verbます始める is changed into an honorific form, it will become (2b).
(⇨ お~になる)
3. 始める is normally attached to a non punctual verb (such as 読む 'read', 書く 'write' and 見る 'see'). If the subject is plural, however, the verb can be a punctual verb (such as 着く 'arrive', 来る 'come' and 死ぬ 'die'). Thus,