بَدَأَ (badaʾa) means to begin. It is a hamzated Form I verb from the root ب د ء (b-d-ʾ): بَدَأَ (badaʾa) in the past, يَبْدَأُ (yabdaʾu) in the present and اِبْدَأْ (ibdaʾ) as a command. The tables below give its full conjugation in all 13 persons, active and passive, vowelled, with its participles and verbal noun.
Every form of badaʾa on this page comes from the engine behind our Arabic verb conjugator and was checked against Wiktionary's conjugation table for بَدَأَ, which is also the source of its verbal nouns.
Badaʾa at a glance
| Root | ب د ء (b-d-ʾ), starting with the letter bāʾ |
| Form | Form I, pattern فَعَلَ (faʿala) |
| Verb type | hamzated |
| Past, he | بَدَأَ (badaʾa) |
| Present, he | يَبْدَأُ (yabdaʾu) |
| Command, you (one man) | اِبْدَأْ (ibdaʾ) |
| Active participle | بَادِئ (bādiʾ) |
| Passive participle | مَبْدُوء (mabdūʾ) |
| Verbal noun (maṣdar) | بَدْء (badʾ), بَدْأَة (badʾa), بِدَايَة (bidāya), مَبْدَأ (mabdaʾ), بُدَاءَة (budāʾa), بَدَاءَة (badāʾa) |
Past tense of badaʾa
The past tense (al-māḍī) of badaʾa is one stem, badaʾ-, plus a suffix that carries the person: بَدَأْتُ (badaʾtu) for I, بَدَأَتْ (badaʾat) for she, بَدَؤُوا (badaʾū) for they.
| Person | Arabic | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| I · أنا anā | بَدَأْتُ | badaʾtu |
| we · نحن naḥnu | بَدَأْنَا | badaʾnā |
| you m.sg. · أنت anta | بَدَأْتَ | badaʾta |
| you f.sg. · أنت anti | بَدَأْتِ | badaʾti |
| you dual · أنتما antumā | بَدَأْتُمَا | badaʾtumā |
| you m.pl. · أنتم antum | بَدَأْتُمْ | badaʾtum |
| you f.pl. · أنتن antunna | بَدَأْتُنَّ | badaʾtunna |
| he · هو huwa | بَدَأَ | badaʾa |
| she · هي hiya | بَدَأَتْ | badaʾat |
| they two m. · هما humā | بَدَآ | badaʾā |
| they two f. · هما humā | بَدَأَتَا | badaʾatā |
| they m.pl. · هم hum | بَدَؤُوا | badaʾū |
| they f.pl. · هن hunna | بَدَأْنَ | badaʾna |
Present tense of badaʾa
The present tense (al-muḍāriʿ) of badaʾa has a in the stem, -bdaʾ-, which no rule predicts: أَبْدَأُ (abdaʾu) for I, يَبْدَأُ (yabdaʾu) for he, يَبْدَؤُونَ (yabdaʾūna) for they.
| Person | Arabic | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| I · أنا anā | أَبْدَأُ | abdaʾu |
| we · نحن naḥnu | نَبْدَأُ | nabdaʾu |
| you m.sg. · أنت anta | تَبْدَأُ | tabdaʾu |
| you f.sg. · أنت anti | تَبْدَئِينَ | tabdaʾīna |
| you dual · أنتما antumā | تَبْدَآنِ | tabdaʾāni |
| you m.pl. · أنتم antum | تَبْدَؤُونَ | tabdaʾūna |
| you f.pl. · أنتن antunna | تَبْدَأْنَ | tabdaʾna |
| he · هو huwa | يَبْدَأُ | yabdaʾu |
| she · هي hiya | تَبْدَأُ | tabdaʾu |
| they two m. · هما humā | يَبْدَآنِ | yabdaʾāni |
| they two f. · هما humā | تَبْدَآنِ | tabdaʾāni |
| they m.pl. · هم hum | يَبْدَؤُونَ | yabdaʾūna |
| they f.pl. · هن hunna | يَبْدَأْنَ | yabdaʾna |
Subjunctive and jussive of badaʾa
The subjunctive and the jussive of badaʾa change only the ending of the present: يَبْدَأُ (yabdaʾu) becomes يَبْدَأَ (yabdaʾa) after لن (lan, will not) and يَبْدَأْ (yabdaʾ) after لم (lam, did not).
| Person | Subjunctive | Jussive |
|---|---|---|
| I · أنا anā | أَبْدَأَ (abdaʾa) | أَبْدَأْ (abdaʾ) |
| we · نحن naḥnu | نَبْدَأَ (nabdaʾa) | نَبْدَأْ (nabdaʾ) |
| you m.sg. · أنت anta | تَبْدَأَ (tabdaʾa) | تَبْدَأْ (tabdaʾ) |
| you f.sg. · أنت anti | تَبْدَئِي (tabdaʾī) | تَبْدَئِي (tabdaʾī) |
| you dual · أنتما antumā | تَبْدَآ (tabdaʾā) | تَبْدَآ (tabdaʾā) |
| you m.pl. · أنتم antum | تَبْدَؤُوا (tabdaʾū) | تَبْدَؤُوا (tabdaʾū) |
| you f.pl. · أنتن antunna | تَبْدَأْنَ (tabdaʾna) | تَبْدَأْنَ (tabdaʾna) |
| he · هو huwa | يَبْدَأَ (yabdaʾa) | يَبْدَأْ (yabdaʾ) |
| she · هي hiya | تَبْدَأَ (tabdaʾa) | تَبْدَأْ (tabdaʾ) |
| they two m. · هما humā | يَبْدَآ (yabdaʾā) | يَبْدَآ (yabdaʾā) |
| they two f. · هما humā | تَبْدَآ (tabdaʾā) | تَبْدَآ (tabdaʾā) |
| they m.pl. · هم hum | يَبْدَؤُوا (yabdaʾū) | يَبْدَؤُوا (yabdaʾū) |
| they f.pl. · هن hunna | يَبْدَأْنَ (yabdaʾna) | يَبْدَأْنَ (yabdaʾna) |
Imperative of badaʾa
The command (al-amr) is the jussive تَبْدَأْ (tabdaʾ) without its prefix, with a connecting alif (hamzat al-waṣl) in front that is pronounced only when the command starts a sentence: اِبْدَأْ (ibdaʾ) to one man, اِبْدَئِي (ibdaʾī) to one woman, اِبْدَؤُوا (ibdaʾū) to a group.
| Person | Arabic | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| you m.sg. · أنت anta | اِبْدَأْ | ibdaʾ |
| you f.sg. · أنت anti | اِبْدَئِي | ibdaʾī |
| you dual · أنتما antumā | اِبْدَآ | ibdaʾā |
| you m.pl. · أنتم antum | اِبْدَؤُوا | ibdaʾū |
| you f.pl. · أنتن antunna | اِبْدَأْنَ | ibdaʾna |
Passive of badaʾa
The passive of badaʾa keeps the consonants and changes the vowels: u and i in the past (بُدِئَ (budiʾa)), the prefix yu- and a before the last root letter in the present (يُبْدَأُ (yubdaʾu)).
| Person | Past passive | Present passive |
|---|---|---|
| I · أنا anā | بُدِئْتُ (budiʾtu) | أُبْدَأُ (ubdaʾu) |
| we · نحن naḥnu | بُدِئْنَا (budiʾnā) | نُبْدَأُ (nubdaʾu) |
| you m.sg. · أنت anta | بُدِئْتَ (budiʾta) | تُبْدَأُ (tubdaʾu) |
| you f.sg. · أنت anti | بُدِئْتِ (budiʾti) | تُبْدَئِينَ (tubdaʾīna) |
| you dual · أنتما antumā | بُدِئْتُمَا (budiʾtumā) | تُبْدَآنِ (tubdaʾāni) |
| you m.pl. · أنتم antum | بُدِئْتُمْ (budiʾtum) | تُبْدَؤُونَ (tubdaʾūna) |
| you f.pl. · أنتن antunna | بُدِئْتُنَّ (budiʾtunna) | تُبْدَأْنَ (tubdaʾna) |
| he · هو huwa | بُدِئَ (budiʾa) | يُبْدَأُ (yubdaʾu) |
| she · هي hiya | بُدِئَتْ (budiʾat) | تُبْدَأُ (tubdaʾu) |
| they two m. · هما humā | بُدِئَا (budiʾā) | يُبْدَآنِ (yubdaʾāni) |
| they two f. · هما humā | بُدِئَتَا (budiʾatā) | تُبْدَآنِ (tubdaʾāni) |
| they m.pl. · هم hum | بُدِئُوا (budiʾū) | يُبْدَؤُونَ (yubdaʾūna) |
| they f.pl. · هن hunna | بُدِئْنَ (budiʾna) | يُبْدَأْنَ (yubdaʾna) |
Participles and verbal noun of badaʾa
The active participle follows the pattern fāʿil: بَادِئ (bādiʾ). The passive participle follows mafʿūl: مَبْدُوء (mabdūʾ). Form I verbal nouns follow no single pattern, and Wiktionary lists six for badaʾa: بَدْء (badʾ), بَدْأَة (badʾa), بِدَايَة (bidāya), مَبْدَأ (mabdaʾ), بُدَاءَة (budāʾa), بَدَاءَة (badāʾa). Learn them with the verb, or look them up under b-d-ʾ in one of the dictionaries in our guide.
Why badaʾa conjugates this way
The last root letter of بَدَأَ (badaʾa) is a hamza. It sits on an alif after a (بَدَأَ (badaʾa), يَبْدَأُ (yabdaʾu)), on a ya after i (بُدِئَ (budiʾa)). Saʾala (to ask) and qaraʾa (to read) share its vowels, a in the past and a in the present.
Badaʾa in sentences
بدأت العمل.
I got down to work.
The verb: بَدَأْتُ (badaʾtu), past, I. Source: Tatoeba sentence 11979347 by dididodo (CC BY 2.0 FR), unvowelled as published.
بدأ يطبخ.
He started cooking.
The verb: بَدَأَ (badaʾa), past, he. Source: Tatoeba sentence 11700794 by dididodo (CC BY 2.0 FR), unvowelled as published.
Frequently asked questions
What is the present tense of badaʾa?
The present tense of بَدَأَ (badaʾa) is يَبْدَأُ (yabdaʾu) for he, أَبْدَأُ (abdaʾu) for I and تَبْدَأُ (tabdaʾu) for you (one man). Its stem vowel, a, has to be learned with the verb.
What is the maṣdar (verbal noun) of badaʾa?
بَدْء (badʾ), بَدْأَة (badʾa), بِدَايَة (bidāya), مَبْدَأ (mabdaʾ), بُدَاءَة (budāʾa), بَدَاءَة (badāʾa), from Wiktionary: Form I verbal nouns have no fixed pattern. The active participle is بَادِئ (bādiʾ), and the passive participle مَبْدُوء (mabdūʾ).
Is badaʾa a regular verb?
It is regular apart from spelling: the hamza of the root changes its seat with the vowels around it (بَدَأَ (badaʾa), يَبْدَأُ (yabdaʾu)).