TAKOBOTO

to begin/start VERB-ing
I started reading yesterday.
ある活動を始める

６じをすぎるとじゅうぎょういんはかえりはじめた。

After 6 p.m. the employees began to return home.

ほんをよみはじめた

I started reading the book.

ほんかくてきにほんをよみはじめたのはだいがくせいになってからである。

I really began reading books in earnest once I was a University Student.

あまりにもかれのてがみがやさしかったので、かのじょはかんどうしてなきはじめた。

So friendly was his letter that she was deeply moved and began to cry.

おかあさんはコーヒーカップのれきしについてしらべはじめた。

My mother looked up the history of coffee cups.

おかあさんがとつぜんうたいはじめた。

All of a sudden my mother began to sing.

このしんぶんはもっともにんきのあるひっしゃをはずしてから、どくしゃすうをへらしはじめた。

The newspaper began to lose readers when it dispensed with one of its most popular writers.

さらにわるいことに、はげしくかみなりがなりはじめた。

To make matters worse, it began to thunder fiercely.

しんげきのきょじんをみはじめたの？

Did you start watching Attack on Titan?

This construct expresses the beginning of an action or verb. It takes the [conjunctive form] of the verb and appends to it the auxiliary verb 始める.

KyleGoetz

Hajimaru which also means to start same as hajimeru means the same.

However, hajimaru doesn't require someone to do something and it never takes the を particle while hajimeru needs を.

Japanese contains these types of verbs: transitive and intransitive.

Sakuratree

出す have a nuance of sudden action

走り出す means to "break into a run", like when a girl sees a cockroach and she "走り出す"。

始めた have a more neutral meaning, as in started eating, or start running in the case of "走り始めた" (like you start running when a race start.)

so that's what i think...

arkofnoah

本格的に本を読み出したのは大学生になってからである。
"When i really began to read books was after i became a University Student".

What are the differences here betweeen the yomihajimeta and the yomidashita? It feels as if the yomidashita is done in a faster way or something more epochal? Appreciate the comments on this observation :)!

Exrulez

V-hajimeta and
V-dashita

I infer some differences from the examples we have so far (need more though, hint hint :)

yomi-hajimeta : that was the first time I started reading

ugoki-dashita : it started moving
not neccesarily the first time.

ugoki-hajimeta : it started to move (first time?)

also, depends on the verb. -dashita seems to feel more sudden, violent to me, like machinery lurching to a start... ?

dc

PS i added your example anyway above, but as a -hajimeta (on this page). by adding examples makes it easier for others to edit (comments can only be edited/deleted by their author but ex's are open)

dc

I cannot find a difference between V出すand vし始める.

Miki

I changed the information about this entry, because the entry appeared to be a grammar rule for the plain past tense of 始める, when in fact the rule can be abstracted to cover the entirety of conjugations of the verb (be it plain, polite, past, non-past).

@Miki - arkofnoah hit it right on the head; 〜出す carries an "explosive" feeling along with it. 〜始める does not.

KyleGoetz

Yes, I agree with arkofnoah.(@_@)

Miki

Are there any exmaples of 「生き始める」and the usage of this compound verb?
Thank you

Patty