Pinyin: kāishǐ

English: to start, to begin

HSK Level: 2 (147 words at this level)

Tone Pattern: 1st (flat)

When to use: Use 开始 when you want to talk about to start. This word appears in everyday Mandarin conversations and is part of the HSK 2 core vocabulary of 147 words.

The characters 开始 are part of the HSK 2 vocabulary list with 147 words. Mastering this word helps build the foundation for reading, writing, and speaking Mandarin Chinese.

Each character has a specific stroke order and radical decomposition. AI Lingo Chat's application includes animated stroke order diagrams and native-speaker audio for all 3587 words across all 6 HSK levels.