Chinese word

开始

Pronunciation

Pinyinkāi shǐ

Meaning

  • verbstart

Example

电影六点开始。diàn yǐng liù diǎn kāi shǐ

The movie starts at six.

Illustration for 开始 (start)

More examples

我们下星期三开始上课。wǒ men xià xīng qī sān kāi shǐ shàng kè

We start class next Wednesday.

Core concept

A point where an activity or stage crosses from not underway into underway.

Common phrases

  • 开始上课kāi shǐ shàng kè

    start class

  • 开始学习kāi shǐ xué xí

    start studying

  • 开始工作kāi shǐ gōng zuò

    start work

Similar words

起qǐ: To begin moving or acting from a particular point.
起来qǐ lái: To show that an action or state starts and begins to develop.

Definition in Chinese

表示人或事物着手做某事或进入某个阶段，常用结构为“开始＋动词”，用于描述动作或过程起始。biǎo shì rén huò shì wù zhuó shǒu zuò mǒu shì huò jìn rù mǒu gè jiē duàn cháng yòng jié gòu wèi kāi shǐ dòng cí yòng yú miáo shù dòng zuò huò guò chéng qí shǐ

Word origin

The compound 开 (kāi, "open") + 始 (shǐ, "begin") presents an activity as opening into its first stage.

Usage tips

  • Chinese places this verb directly before the action verb, without an English-style infinitive marker, to show that the action is just getting under way.

Other meanings

  • beginverb
  • beginningnoun
  • at firstadverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word