începea

începea is the imperfect tense, third-person singular form of the Romanian verb "a începe". This verb translates to "to begin" or "to start" in English. The imperfect tense in Romanian, similar to other Romance languages, describes an ongoing or habitual action in the past. Therefore, "începea" refers to an action that was in the process of starting or was habitually starting at a certain point in the past.

For example, in the sentence "Vremea începea să se încălzească" (The weather was starting to warm up), "începea" indicates a gradual, ongoing process of the weather changing. Similarly, "Copilul începea să vorbească" (The child was beginning to speak) suggests the initial stages of language acquisition, an ongoing development.

The imperfect tense is crucial for storytelling and historical accounts, providing context and describing the background conditions of past events. "începea" specifically highlights the initial phase of an action or state without necessarily indicating its completion. It is often used to set the scene for other events that occurred simultaneously or subsequently. The choice between the imperfect and other past tenses, such as the perfect compus or the mai mult ca perfect, depends on the aspect of the past action being conveyed.