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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “began”

“began” is pronounced /bɪˈɡæn/ (bi-GAN) in American English and /bɪɡan/ in British English, and /biˈɡæn/ is also accepted — 2 syllables, stressed on “an”.
The sound

Say “began” in 2 beats

Say it like this

began

/bɪˈɡæn/

The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /bɪɡan/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.

2 beats
  1. begbɪ
  2. anɡænstress
IPA (American)
/bɪˈɡæn/
IPA (British)
/bɪɡan/
Also accepted
/biˈɡæn/
Respelling
bi-GAN
Syllables
2 — beg-AN
Stress
Stress the second syllable: beg-AN. “an” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
verb
Difficulty
Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/bɪˈɡæn/

British

/bɪɡan/

No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.

Meaning

What “began” means

  1. verb

    take the first step or steps in carrying out an action

    “We began working at dawn”

  2. verb

    have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative sense

    “The DMZ begins right over the hill”

  3. verb

    set in motion, cause to start

    “The U.S. started a war in the Middle East”

Say it in a sentence

“The storm began just as they reached the shelter.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

5 sounds, in the order you say them
bbɪshort iɡgæshort ann

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

“began”, answered

How do you pronounce “began”?

“began” is pronounced /bɪˈɡæn/ (bi-GAN) in American English and /bɪɡan/ in British English, and /biˈɡæn/ is also accepted — 2 syllables, stressed on “an”. Build it as beg-AN, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “began” have?

2: beg · an. The beat lands on the second, “an”.

Is “began” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /bɪˈɡæn/ (bi-GAN); British English says /bɪɡan/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “began” mean?

As a verb: take the first step or steps in carrying out an action For example: “We began working at dawn” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “began”?

Stress the second syllable: beg-AN. “an” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “began” and see every sound

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