N4 · Verbs
Start, finish, keep on: compound verbs
はじめる, おわる, つづける and だす after the ます-stem
A second verb on the ます-stem says where in the action you are: starting, finishing, carrying on, or bursting into it.
At a glance
- Remember
- Stem plus はじめる, おわる, つづける or だす — no て, no る in between.
- Form
- 読み始めるstart reading
- Signal words
- 〜始める
- 〜終わる
- 〜続ける
- 〜出す
- 急に
- Trap
- Wrong:雨が降って始めました。Right:雨が降り始めました。
Your turn
9 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
stem (regular) auxiliary verb
| start reading | 読み始める |
| finish reading | 読み終わる |
| keep reading | 読み続ける |
| suddenly start crying | 泣き出す |
| started eating (polite) | 食べ始めました |
| when I have finished writing | 書き終わったら |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
Put はじめる, おわる, つづける or だす straight onto the ます-stem.
先月から日本語を習い始めました。I started learning Japanese last month.
The compound conjugates on its second verb.
この本を読み終わったら、貸してください。When you have finished reading this book, please lend it to me.
つづける means carrying on without stopping.
三時間歩き続けて、疲れました。I kept walking for three hours and I am tired.
だす means a sudden start nobody planned.
急に雨が降り出しました。It suddenly started to rain.
Example sentences
子どもたちはご飯を食べ始めました。The children started eating.
宿題はもう書き終わりましたか。Have you finished writing your homework?
彼は十年同じ会社で働き続けています。He has gone on working at the same company for ten years.
話を聞いて、みんな笑い出しました。When they heard the story, everybody burst out laughing.
桜が咲き始めましたね。The cherry blossom has started to come out, hasn't it?
使い終わったら、元の場所に戻してください。When you have finished using it, please put it back where it was.
7 more example sentences
雪が降り始めたから、早く帰ろう。It has started snowing, so let's go home early.
昨日、この小説を読み終わりました。I finished reading this novel yesterday.
彼女は一時間も話し続けた。She went on talking for a whole hour.
犬が急に走り出した。The dog suddenly started running.
来月からジムに通い始めます。From next month I am going to start going to a gym.
会議の資料はもう作り終わりました。I have already finished making the material for the meeting.
夢を諦めないで、頑張り続けてください。Don't give up on your dream — keep going.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English "started raining" or "started to rain" invites a joining form between the two verbs, and the te-form is the joining form learners know. But a compound verb has no joint: the first verb is in the ます-stem and the second follows directly.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Japanese can put a second verb straight onto the ます-stem of the first, and the pair becomes one verb. Four of these second verbs describe the course of an action: 始める "start to", 終わる "finish doing", 続ける "keep on doing" and 出す "suddenly start". 読み始める, 読み終わる, 読み続ける.
The compound conjugates on its second half, which follows its own group: 読み始めました, 書き終わったら, 歩き続けて. The object of the first verb stays with を: 本を読み終わった, "I finished reading the book".
始める is the neutral "begin to" and can be planned: 来月からジムに通い始める. 出す is sudden and not chosen: 急に雨が降り出した, "it suddenly started to rain"; 赤ちゃんが泣き出した, "the baby burst into tears". You cannot decide to 出す something tomorrow.
English uses separate verbs with "-ing" or "to" — "start eating", "keep walking" — and learners reach for the te-form or the dictionary form: 食べて始める, 食べる終わる. Neither exists. The pieces are glued: stem plus verb, with nothing between them.
A closer look
はじめる or だす
Both mean "start to", and they divide the work by intention. 始める is the ordinary beginning of anything, planned or not: 来年から貯金し始める, "I will start saving next year".
出す reports a start that took somebody by surprise, often an outburst: a baby crying, rain falling, a crowd running. It looks back at something that happened, which is why it is rare in the future and with ましょう, and why 一緒に食べ出しましょう sounds strange where 食べ始めましょう is ordinary.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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the first verb is a する-verb
the stem is し: 勉強し始める, 練習し続ける.
毎日少しずつ練習し続けることが大切です。What matters is to keep practising a little every day.
The ます-form is 勉強します, so its stem is 勉強し, and the second verb attaches to that like to any other stem.
Worth knowing (1)
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More than four of them
Other second verbs work the same way and add their own meaning: 直す, "do again", as in 書き直す, "rewrite"; 忘れる, "forget to", as in 買い忘れる, "forget to buy". Once the stem-plus-verb shape is familiar, they can usually be read without a dictionary.
間違えたので、手紙を書き直しました。I made a mistake, so I rewrote the letter.
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