How to Use Began or Begun (Explained, With Examples)

Updated August 8, 2025

Originally published March 11, 2023

5 min read

By Yash, D

The irregular verb, begin, has two past tense conjugations: began and begun. Begun is the past participle and pairs with auxiliaries, have/has/had.

Past Tense Of

How to Use Began or Begun (Explained, With Examples)

What’s the past tense of “begin”?

The Carpenter's 70s hit single, "We've only just begun", which became the wedding song of a generation, and shows the past participle form of the verb, begin (present simple).

The word (and verb) begin, means “to start doing something; to do the first part of something”, as stated by the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary. Please, let us begin today’s lesson on this highly common, irregular verb form in English.

Conjugations of “begin”

	Present	Past	Future
Simple	I begin	I began	I will begin
Continuous	I am beginning	I was beginning	I will be beginning
Perfect	I have begun	I had begun	I will have begun
Perfect Continuous	I have been beginning	I had been beginning	I will have been beginning

Tenses of begin.

When to use began or begun?

The course began last week.

The course has already begun, so we should catch up on the the readings.

The first sentence uses began, which is the simple past conjugation. We communicate in the simple past to refer to actions or events that took place entirely in the past.

The past participle form is begun. It’s clear when a participle vs. a simple tense is in use because participles come with auxiliary verbs to create perfect or continuous tenses in grammar; such as the past perfect, past continuous, and present perfect/continuous aspects in grammar.

To form the past perfect tense, use the past participle (e.g., begun) with the auxiliary had. To form the present perfect tense, pair the past participle with have/has (has in the third-person present singular). These aspects of time describe describe events as continuous, or as ongoing for a certain period/slice of time up until another point.

Sentence examples: Begin, began, have/had/has begun

Verb form	Example sentences
begin
begin (beginning, begins)	I don't know where to begin. He begins each morning with a glass of orange juice. The movie is beginning right now!
began	The concert began with a fanfare from the brass section. I began my career as a journalist at my local newspaper. The company began to expand its operations in the late 90s.
have/has/had begun	She's begun studying Spanish to communicate with her coworkers better. The new CEO has begun implementing changes to our marketing strategy. We had just begun the film when you'd arrived.

Origin of the word/verb begin

Old English beginnan “to attempt, undertake,” a rare word beside the more usual form onginnan from be- + West Germanic *ginnan, which is of obscure etymology and found only in compounds, perhaps “to open, open up” with sense evolution from “open” to “begin.”

These words have similar meanings to “begin” and can be used interchangeably depending on the context:

Synonyms, nearby words & word forms

Synonyms for begin

commence start initiate inaugurate undertake launch kick off embark

Phrases with begin

Phrase	Meaning
begin with a bang	To start something in an exciting or impressive way.
begin at the beginning	To start from the very start, often to explain something clearly.
begin again	To start over or restart from the beginning.
begin to see the light	To start to understand after confusion.
begin with the end in mind	To start a project by planning or knowing your goal.
begin from scratch	To start with nothing or from the very beginning.

Worksheet: begin conjugations

FAQs

What is the simple past of begin?
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The simple past tense of the verb “begin” is “began”. This form is used for actions or events that took place entirely in the past, as in “The ceremony began promptly at noon.”

When should I use began?
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Use “began” for the simple past tense to describe a completed action or event in the past without an auxiliary verb. Examples: “The concert began with a fanfare”.

When do I use begun?
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You use “begun” as the past participle form. It is used with auxiliary verbs like “have,” “has,” or “had” to create perfect tenses, such as in “We have not yet begun the second phase.”

Can began be used with have or had?
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No, “began” is the simple past form and should not be used with auxiliary verbs like “have” or “had.” The past participle “begun” is needed for perfect tenses.

Can begun be used as the simple past?
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No, using “begun” as the simple past tense without an auxiliary verb is incorrect. “Began” is the correct simple past form for completed actions.

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