始めるhajimeru“begin to do”

〜始める means “to start doing” or “to begin to do.” It is a JLPT N4 compound verb pattern: you take a verb’s ます-stem and add 始める to mark the moment an action gets going. 雨が降り始めました — “It started raining.”

You already know 始める as an ordinary verb: 仕事を始める, “start work.” At N4 you learn to glue it onto other verbs. The result behaves like one long verb, and it conjugates exactly like 始める does.

〜始める zooms in on the starting line of an action — the first raindrop, the first page, the first day at a new job.

What does 始める mean?

Verb stem + 始める = “start V-ing.” The pattern marks the beginning of an action or a process that then continues:

• 読み始める — start reading
• 働き始める — start working
• 降り始める — start falling (rain, snow)

It answers questions like “When did you start…?” — いつから日本語を勉強し始めましたか — and it describes things that begin and keep going, like seasons, habits and changes.

The stress is on the start point, not on the whole activity. 本を読みました says you read the book. 本を読み始めました says you began it, and suggests you haven’t finished.

How to form 始める

Drop ます from the polite form and add 始める. The new compound is an ichidan (る) verb, so every form comes from 始める:

With する-verbs, the stem is し: 勉強し始める, 練習し始める. The noun alone does not work — 勉強始める is wrong. If you want to use the noun, switch to the ordinary verb: 勉強を始める (“start studying”).

One detail catches almost everyone: the compound always uses 始める, never 始まる, even when the subject is not a person. Standalone, 始める is transitive (授業を始める) and 始まる is intransitive (授業が始まる). But in the compound, the first verb decides the grammar, and 始める is fixed: 雨が降り始めた, not 降り始まった.

When is 始める used?

• Starting a habit or a new stage of life: 働き始める, 一人で住み始める, ジムに通い始める.
• Natural processes and weather: 雨が降り始める, 桜が咲き始める, 空が暗くなり始める.
• Invitations and instructions: 〜始めましょう and 〜始めてください are completely natural, because 始める describes a controllable start.
• Asking or telling when something began: いつから〜始めましたか, 〜始めてから三年です.

The register is neutral. You hear it in casual chat (食べ始めよう), polite speech and writing alike.

始める example sentences

In example 2, the subject is rain — not a person — and the compound is still 降り始める. In example 6, the volitional ましょう works because starting to eat is a choice.

Nuance of 始める

〜始める suits actions that continue after they start. Reading, working, raining and learning all have a beginning and then a duration, so they sit comfortably with 始める.

Verbs that happen in a single instant are a poor fit. 着く (arrive), 死ぬ (die) or 決める (decide) have no “middle,” so 駅に着き始めた sounds strange for one person. The exception is when many people or things do the instant action one after another: お客さんが来始めた — “Guests started arriving” — works because the arrivals form a continuing stream.

Compare 始める with a gradual change in 〜てくる:

• 寒くなり始めました。 — It has started to get cold. (Focus on the starting point.)
• 寒くなってきました。 — It’s been getting colder. (Focus on the change building up toward now.)

Both are natural for weather; the first sounds more like a report, the second more like something you feel.

💡 Stopping and finishing: 始める has two partners built the same way — 〜続ける (“keep V-ing”) and 〜終わる (“finish V-ing”). Learn the three together: 読み始める → 読み続ける → 読み終わる.

始める vs 出す

Both attach to the ます-stem and both mean “start V-ing,” but they describe very different kinds of starts.

If you can add “suddenly” or “burst into” in English, 〜出す is likely. If the start is planned, gradual or simply reported, use 始める. When you ask someone to start doing something, only 始める works: 書き出してください doesn’t mean “please start writing.”

Common mistakes with 始める

Is 始める on the JLPT?

A common question looks like this: 雪が（　）始めました with choices 降る / 降り / 降って / 降った. The answer is 降り — only the ます-stem connects.

Practice questions for 始める

Learning path for 始める

Related grammar to review next

• 〜出す — the sudden, uncontrolled “start”; the partner you must choose between.
• 〜続ける — “keep V-ing,” built on the same ます-stem.
• 〜終わる — “finish V-ing,” the other end of the action.
• 〜てくる — describes a change building up, a softer alternative for weather and feelings.
• たばかり — combine with 始めた to say you’ve “only just started.”

Learn 始める with Hane

Hane drills 始める, 続ける and 終わる as one set and quizzes you on 始める vs 出す, so the compound verb comes out right without thinking. Practise N4 compound verbs in Hane.