anfangen meaning and definition in german
Verb
Frequency: 
class 7
The normal auxiliary for this verb is haben: Ich habe angefangen. – "I have begun." The auxiliary sein is used by some speakers in western and northern Germany: Ich bin angefangen. This is, however, widely restricted to colloquial usage. (Compare the same construction in Dutch beginnen (“to begin”): Ik ben begonnen.)The construction of anfangen as a transitive verb (sense 4) is perfectly acceptable in spoken German, but would not be common in formal writing.
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to begin; to commence Das Konzert fängt gleich an. The concert is beginning shortly. - intransitive, with zu + infinitive to start doing something Wann hast du angefangen zu rauchen? When did you start smoking?
- intransitive, with mit to begin something; to start something Morgen fangen wir mit dem Projekt an. Tomorrow we are starting the project.
- colloquial to begin something; to start something Wann hast du das Rauchen angefangen? When did you start smoking? Morgen fangen wir das Projekt an. Tomorrow we are starting the project.
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