HSK 2 · Common Verbs

开始 kāishǐ “to begin” in Chinese

Traditional 開始

What 开始 means

  1. to begin, start
  2. beginning

How to say 开始

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale开kāi1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale始shǐ3rd tone, dipping

开始 in a sentence

  1. 课开始了，请大家坐好。

    Kè kāishǐ le, qǐng dàjiā zuò hǎo.

    Class has started. Please take your seats, everyone.

    Sentence #11837331 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 比赛什么时候开始？

    Bǐsài shénme shíhou kāishǐ?

    When does the match start?

    Sentence #1881651 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 已经开始下雨了。

    Yǐjīng kāishǐ xiàyǔ le.

    It’s already started to rain.

    Sentence #13893352 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 开始 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 开 (kāi) with each of its parts in a different colour
开kāito open
  • 一one · yī
  • 廾two hands · gǒng

Memory aidSimplified from 開: two hands lifting the bar of a gate 門: to open.

The character 始 (shǐ) with each of its parts in a different colour
始shǐto begin
  • 女woman · nǚMeaning part
  • 台platform · tāiSound part

女 hints at the meaning (woman); 台 (tāi) hints at the sound. Compare it with shǐ.

How to write 开始

开 4 strokes · 始 8 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

开始 (kāishǐ) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 开始 (kāishǐ). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 开始

Words with 开

开kāi · to open开车kāichē · to drive a car开学kāixué · to start a new school term打开dǎkāi · to open离开líkāi · leave开会kāihuì · to have a meeting开花kāihuā · to bloom分开fēnkāi · to separate开机kāijī · to switch on (a device)开心kāixīn · to feel happy

Words with 始

始终shǐzhōng · from beginning to end原始yuánshǐ · original

More words: Common Verbs

觉得juéde · to feel希望xīwàng · to hope告诉gàosu · to tell问wèn · to ask运动yùndòng · to exercise洗xǐ · to wash穿chuān · to wear送sòng · to give as gift

FAQs

开始 (kāishǐ) means “to begin, start” or “beginning”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it kāishǐ: kāi with a 1st tone, then shǐ with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 开始 is written 開始. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type kaishi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 开始 from the suggestions. Typing kaishi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
开始 is an HSK 2 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.