|bɪˈgɪn |(past tense began, past participle begun) A. transitive verb 1. (start doing, start out on) 开始 kāishǐ ‹career, meeting, game›to begin to do [something], to begin doing [something] 开始做某事 begin a new paragraph 另起一段 to begin a journey 起程 they began their married life in a bedsitter 他们结婚时住在起居兼卧室两用的租间里 she began life as a grocer's daughter 她出生于食品杂货商家庭 to begin [something] by doing [something]/with [something] 以做某事/以某事物作为某事的开端 2. (start using) 开启 kāiqǐ ‹bottle›; 开始吃 kāishǐ chī ‹loaf›; 开始用 kāishǐ yòng ‹page, notebook›3. (say as first words) «letter» 开始写道 kāishǐ xiě dào ; «story» 开始讲道 kāishǐ jiǎng dào ‘once upon a time,'she began “从前啊,"她开始说道 4. (have slightest success) 一点也 yīdiǎn yě I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am 我对你的感激之情难以言表 I didn't begin to understand 我完全不明白 5. (initiate) 发起 fāqǐ ‹campaign›; 创建 chuàngjiàn ‹dynasty›; 引起 yǐnqǐ ‹debate, dispute, trend›; 散布 sànbù ‹rumour›6. (come first in) 在…中居首位 zài… zhōng jū shǒuwèi ‹series, collection, festival›A begins the alphabet A是字母表中的第一个字母 B. intransitive verb 1. (start doing sth., do first stage) 开始做 kāishǐ zuò it's very complicated: I don't know where to begin 这事很复杂,我不知从何处下手 to begin by doing [something]/with [something] 先做某事/从某事物着手 she began as a sales assistant 她先是担任销售助理 2. (have first stage, start happening) «play, meeting, disease, problem, storm» 开始 kāishǐ a name beginning with C 以C开头的名字 to begin as [something] 起初是某事物 beginning from July 1st, ... 从7月1日起,… the pain began when I tried to move my leg 我那时腿一动就疼 3. (have starting point) «country, road» 起始 qǐshǐ ; «river» 发源 fāyuán C. to begin with adverb phrase 1. (at first) 起初 qǐchū 2. (firstly) 首先 shǒuxiān 3. (originally) 本来 běnlái was it like that to begin with? 它原本就是那样吗? 4. (at all) 根本 gēnběn I wish I'd never bought the house to begin with 真希望我压根就没有买那幢房子 PHRASAL VERBS begin at transitive verb [begin at something] «goods» 底价为 dǐjià wéi ; «prices» 从…起 cóng… qǐ begin on transitive verb [begin on something] 着手做 zhuóshǒu zuò