începeai

Începeai is the second-person singular imperfect indicative form of the Romanian verb "a începe," which translates to "to begin" or "to start." The imperfect tense in Romanian is used to describe ongoing or habitual actions in the past. Therefore, "începeai" specifically refers to "you were beginning" or "you used to begin."

This verb form indicates a past action that was in progress over a period of time, or a repeated action that happened in the past. For example, one might say "Începeai să înveți limba română când erai mic" which means "You were beginning to learn Romanian when you were little," implying the process of learning started and continued for some time. Another example could be "Începeai mereu discuția cu o glumă," meaning "You always used to begin the conversation with a joke," highlighting a habitual action in the past.

The imperfect tense "începeai" is distinct from the perfect compus ("ai început") or the perfect simplu ("începu"), which describe completed actions in the past. The choice of tense depends on the nuance of the past event being described. It is a fundamental verb conjugation used frequently in spoken and written Romanian to convey past actions and states.