How to say “begin” in 45 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- начать[nɐˈt͡ɕætʲ] Russian
- بدأ/ba.da.ʔa/ Arabic
- დავიწყოთ[d̥ävit͡sʼχʼo̞tʰ] Georgian
- սկսել/skʰəˈsel/ Armenian
- തുടങ്ങുക/t̪uɖɐŋŋuɡɐ/ Malayalam
- ప్రారంభించారు/ˈpraːranˌbʰincaːru/ Telugu
“begin” in French: commence · German: anfangen · Italian: inizio · Russian: начать · Arabic: بدأ · Turkish: başladı
It is commonest in Basque, where hasi is the 120th most used word.
Begin in other languages, A to Z
- Albanian filluar/fiɫuaɾ/ to start, to begin #491
- Arabic بدأ/ba.da.ʔa/ to begin #337
- Armenian սկսել/skʰəˈsel/ to begin, to start, to commence #1,108
- Basque hasi/has̺i/ to begin, start #120
- Bosnian počinje/ˈpotʃɪɲe/ to begin, start, commence #860
- Bulgarian започна[zɐˈpɔt͡ʃnɐ] to begin, to start, to commence #455
- Catalan començar[ku.mənˈsa] to begin, to start something #322
- Chinese 開始/kʰaɪ̯⁵⁵ ʂɻ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ to start; to begin; to commence #345
- Croatian početi/pǒt͡ʃeːti/ to begin, start, commence #718
- Czech začít[ˈzat͡ʃiːt] to begin, to start #645
- Danish begynder/beɡønər/ to start, begin, commence, open #488
- Dutch beginnen/bəˈɣɪnə(n)/ to begin #416
- English become/bɪˈkʌm/ begin to be; turn into #522
- Esperanto komencis/koˈment͡sis/ to start, begin #562
- Estonian hakkama/ˈhɑkːɑmɑ/ to start, begin #292
- Finnish alkaa/ˈɑlkɑːˣ/ to begin, start, initiate, set in, be… #352
- French commence/kɔ.mɑ̃s/ to begin, commence #552
- Galician comezar/komeˈθaɾ/ to start, begin, commence #630
- Georgian დავიწყოთ[d̥ävit͡sʼχʼo̞tʰ] to begin, to start, to initiate #565
- German anfangen/ˈanˌfaŋən/ to begin; to commence #912
- Greek άρχισε/ˈarçiˌse/ to start, begin #921
- Hebrew התחיל/(h)itˈχil/ to start, to begin #693
- Hungarian kezd[ˈkɛzd] to begin, start #947
- Icelandic byrja[ˈpɪrja] to begin #292
- Italian inizio/iˈnit.t͡sjo/ to begin, to set about #614
- Latvian sākt[sâːkt] to begin, to start #690
- Lithuanian pradėti[prɐˈd̪ʲêːt̪ʲɪ] to begin, to start #437
- Macedonian почнува[ˈpɔt͡ʃnuva] to begin, initiate #796
- Malayalam തുടങ്ങുക/t̪uɖɐŋŋuɡɐ/ to begin; start #1,951
- Norwegian begynner/bəˈjʏnər/ to begin, start #367
- Polish zacząć/ˈza.t͡ʂɔɲt͡ɕ/ to start, to begin #837
- Portuguese começar/ko.meˈsa(ʁ)/ to start; to begin; to commence #377
- Romanian început/ɨn.t͡ʃeˈput/ to begin, to commence #293
- Russian начать[nɐˈt͡ɕætʲ] to begin, to start, to commence #757
- Serbian počinje/ˈpotʃɪɲe/ to begin, start, commence #789
- Slovak začať/zat͡ʃac/ to start, to begin #409
- Slovenian začeti/zat͡ʃèːti/ to begin, to start #566
- Spanish empezar/empeˈθaɾ/ to start, begin, to get started #614
- Swedish börjar/ˈbœrjar/ to begin; to start #277
- Tagalog magsimula/maɡsimuˈlaʔ/ to start; to begin; to commence #810
- Tamil துவங்கு/t̪ʊʋɐŋɡɯ/ to commence, start, begin #1,048
- Telugu ప్రారంభించారు/ˈpraːranˌbʰincaːru/ to begin, start #297
- Turkish başladı/baʃɫaˈdɯ/ to begin, to start #435
- Ukrainian почати[pɔˈt͡ʃate] to begin, to start, to commence #1,068
- Vietnamese khởi[xəːj˧˩] to start; to begin; to initiate #994
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0), Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0) and Vietnamese (vais1000 (vi_VN), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.