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# début — French to English

How French *début* is translated into English in open, checked parallel texts: 6 translations with example sentences.

The Elamur Dictionary has no French section yet; the English translations below link to their meanings where it has them.

Sentence pairs counted, by form: début (96 168), débute (1 551), débuts (1 599). By style: everyday 323 · literary 3 · parliamentary 8 940 · legal and administrative 10 308 · UN documents 79 744.

## beginning

Used about 19 875 times in the texts (everyday ≈ 122 · literary ≈ 3 · parliamentary ≈ 2 235 · legal and administrative ≈ 2 009 · UN documents ≈ 15 506). Forms: beginning, begins. Meaning: [beginning in the Elamur Dictionary](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/beginning/).

- C'est que le **début**.
  It's only just the **beginning**.
  ([Tatoeba](https://tatoeba.org/) · Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR · sentences by Zelphy and CK · checked, community translation · [\#3377177](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/3377177) [\#8103443](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/8103443))

- D'ailleurs, ce n'est qu'un **début**, un moyen d'amasser quelques milliers de francs pour m'établir ensuite.
  And after all it is only to make a **beginning**, a way of saving a few thousand francs to start fair with afterward.”
  ([Project Gutenberg books (Verne, Hugo, Maupassant and their translators)](https://www.gutenberg.org/) · Project Gutenberg, public domain · checked, professional translation · maupassant pierre jean, row 2141)

- (La séance **débute** à 9 heures)
  (The session **begins** at 9.00)
  ([Europarl v8](https://www.statmt.org/europarl/) · Source: European Parliament proceedings, Europarl v8 (Koehn 2005) via OPUS (Tiedemann 2012) · checked, professional translation · segment 1016664)

- L'ordre du jour définitif est arrêté par les coprésidents au **début** de chaque réunion.
  The final agenda shall be adopted by the Co-chairs at the **beginning** of each meeting.
  ([DGT-TM v2021](https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/language-technology-resources/dgt-translation-memory_en) · Source: European Commission, DGT-TM (Steinberger et al. 2012), re-used under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU; the Commission keeps ownership of the data · checked, professional translation · segment 3826911)

- Solde en **début** de période
  Cash at **beginning** of period
  ([United Nations Parallel Corpus v1.0](https://conferences.unite.un.org/UNCorpus) · Source: United Nations, United Nations Parallel Corpus v1.0 (Ziemski, Junczys-Dowmunt and Pouliquen 2016) · checked, professional translation · segment 23027595)

## early

Used about 18 833 times in the texts (everyday ≈ 15 · parliamentary ≈ 807 · legal and administrative ≈ 1 398 · UN documents ≈ 16 613). Meaning: [early in the Elamur Dictionary](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/early/).

- Ma sœur se marie au **début** de l'année prochaine.
  My sister will get married **early** next year.
  ([Tatoeba](https://tatoeba.org/) · Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR · sentences by sacredceltic and CK · checked, community translation · [\#1409653](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/1409653) [\#1564209](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/1564209))

- Le marché du commerce électronique n'en est qu'à ses **débuts** et est encore sous-développé.
  The e-commerce market is at a very **early** stage and is still underdeveloped.
  ([Europarl v8](https://www.statmt.org/europarl/) · Source: European Parliament proceedings, Europarl v8 (Koehn 2005) via OPUS (Tiedemann 2012) · checked, professional translation · segment 227750)

- le recrutement en vue de la formation de chercheurs en **début** de carrière,
  the recruitment of **early**-stage researchers to be trained,
  ([DGT-TM v2021](https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/language-technology-resources/dgt-translation-memory_en) · Source: European Commission, DGT-TM (Steinberger et al. 2012), re-used under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU; the Commission keeps ownership of the data · checked, professional translation · segment 867102)

- Réunion **début** février, puis mars
  Met **early** February, next meeting March
  ([United Nations Parallel Corpus v1.0](https://conferences.unite.un.org/UNCorpus) · Source: United Nations, United Nations Parallel Corpus v1.0 (Ziemski, Junczys-Dowmunt and Pouliquen 2016) · checked, professional translation · segment 9781087)

- Je me sens parfois somnolent en **début** d'après-midi.
  I sometimes feel drowsy in the **early** afternoon.
  ([Tatoeba](https://tatoeba.org/) · Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR · sentences by sacredceltic and CK · checked, community translation · [\#953618](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/953618) [\#955674](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/955674))

## start

Used about 17 178 times in the texts (everyday ≈ 49 · parliamentary ≈ 2 297 · legal and administrative ≈ 3 756 · UN documents ≈ 11 076). Forms: start, starts. Meaning: [start in the Elamur Dictionary](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/start/).

- C'est que le **début**.
  That's just a **start**.
  ([Tatoeba](https://tatoeba.org/) · Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR · sentences by Zelphy and CK · checked, community translation · [\#5481459](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/5481459) [\#8103443](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/8103443))

- Elle s'attend à ce que ce progrès **débute** immédiatement.
  We expect that progress to **start** now.
  ([Europarl v8](https://www.statmt.org/europarl/) · Source: European Parliament proceedings, Europarl v8 (Koehn 2005) via OPUS (Tiedemann 2012) · checked, professional translation · segment 1020391)

- **Début** de l'électrophorèse sur gel d'agarose:
  **Start** of the Gel-Electrophoresis:
  ([DGT-TM v2021](https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/language-technology-resources/dgt-translation-memory_en) · Source: European Commission, DGT-TM (Steinberger et al. 2012), re-used under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU; the Commission keeps ownership of the data · checked, professional translation · segment 3940398)

- Le rapport **débute** par des estimations chiffrées.
  332. The report **starts** with numerical estimates.
  ([United Nations Parallel Corpus v1.0](https://conferences.unite.un.org/UNCorpus) · Source: United Nations, United Nations Parallel Corpus v1.0 (Ziemski, Junczys-Dowmunt and Pouliquen 2016) · checked, professional translation · segment 6852005)

- L'école **débute** à neuf heures.
  School **starts** at nine.
  ([Tatoeba](https://tatoeba.org/) · Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR · sentences by Petro1 and papabear · checked, community translation · [\#716137](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/716137) [\#9425](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/9425))

## since

Used about 4 541 times in the texts (everyday ≈ 5 · parliamentary ≈ 310 · legal and administrative ≈ 349 · UN documents ≈ 3 876). Meaning: [since in the Elamur Dictionary](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/since/).

- Beaucoup de progrès a été fait depuis le **début** de ce siècle.
  Many improvements have been made **since** this century began.
  ([Tatoeba](https://tatoeba.org/) · Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR · sentences by sacredceltic and CM · checked, community translation · [\#242142](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/242142) [\#8508](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/8508))

- Le réseau Natura 2000 est l’une des meilleures avancées accomplies depuis les **débuts** de l’Union.
  The Natura 2000 network is one of the best moves made **since** the Union's inception.
  ([Europarl v8](https://www.statmt.org/europarl/) · Source: European Parliament proceedings, Europarl v8 (Koehn 2005) via OPUS (Tiedemann 2012) · checked, professional translation · segment 659924)

- Comme ce protocole reposait entièrement, à ses **débuts**, sur du texte au format ASCII, il n'était pas bien adapté aux fichiers binaires.
  **Since** this protocol started as purely ASCII text-based it did not deal well with binary files.
  ([DGT-TM v2021](https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/language-technology-resources/dgt-translation-memory_en) · Source: European Commission, DGT-TM (Steinberger et al. 2012), re-used under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU; the Commission keeps ownership of the data · checked, professional translation · segment 1388135)

- **Début** juillet 1995, 650 personnes ayant demandé asile se trouvaient détenues.
  **Since** July 1995, 650 persons seeking asylum had been detained.
  ([United Nations Parallel Corpus v1.0](https://conferences.unite.un.org/UNCorpus) · Source: United Nations, United Nations Parallel Corpus v1.0 (Ziemski, Junczys-Dowmunt and Pouliquen 2016) · checked, professional translation · segment 2756937)

- J'ai vécu les événements depuis la phase finale de Rambouillet jusqu'au **début** des actions militaires.
  **Since** 1992, we have tried everything in order to convince Milosevic to abandon this policy.
  ([Europarl v8](https://www.statmt.org/europarl/) · Source: European Parliament proceedings, Europarl v8 (Koehn 2005) via OPUS (Tiedemann 2012) · checked, professional translation · segment 2001521)

## when

Used about 3 140 times in the texts (everyday ≈ 10 · parliamentary ≈ 186 · legal and administrative ≈ 175 · UN documents ≈ 2 769). Meaning: [when in the Elamur Dictionary](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/when/).

- À nos **débuts**, nous n'avions que six employés.
  **When** we started out, we only had six employees.
  ([Tatoeba](https://tatoeba.org/) · Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR · sentences by lbdx and CK · checked, community translation · [\#954634](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/954634) [\#12020046](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/12020046))

- A mes **débuts**, j'ai rencontré une personne qui était connue sous le nom de "lait écrémé" au cours du budget.
  **When** I first began, during the budget I met a person who was known as 'Skimmed milk'.
  ([Europarl v8](https://www.statmt.org/europarl/) · Source: European Parliament proceedings, Europarl v8 (Koehn 2005) via OPUS (Tiedemann 2012) · checked, professional translation · segment 1062684)

- Lorsqu'un changement est attendu, la prévision FORECAST **débute** par l'un des indicateurs d'évolution «BECMG» ou «TEMPO».
  **When** a change is expected to occur, the TREND forecast shall begin with one of the change indicators ‘BECMG’ or ‘TEMPO’.
  ([DGT-TM v2021](https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/language-technology-resources/dgt-translation-memory_en) · Source: European Commission, DGT-TM (Steinberger et al. 2012), re-used under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU; the Commission keeps ownership of the data · checked, professional translation · segment 4030431)

- La collecte des données de mesure dans les espaces fermés à la suite du choc **débute** lorsque le véhicule s &apos; est immobilisé.
  Post-crash data collection in enclosed spaces commences **when** the vehicle comes to a rest.
  ([United Nations Parallel Corpus v1.0](https://conferences.unite.un.org/UNCorpus) · Source: United Nations, United Nations Parallel Corpus v1.0 (Ziemski, Junczys-Dowmunt and Pouliquen 2016) · checked, professional translation · segment 28116266)

- L'actrice a fait ses **débuts** à l'âge de huit ans.
  The actress made her debut **when** she was eight.
  ([Tatoeba](https://tatoeba.org/) · Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR · sentences by lbdx and CK · checked, community translation · [\#46588](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/46588) [\#9623365](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/9623365))

## period

Used about 2 480 times in the texts (parliamentary ≈ 62 · legal and administrative ≈ 1 310 · UN documents ≈ 1 108). Meaning: [period in the Elamur Dictionary](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/period/).

- Monsieur le Président, Madame la Chancelière, honorables députés, je nourris de grands espoirs pour la période qui **débute** maintenant et se terminera à la fin de ce mandat parlementaire.
  Mr President, Madam Chancellor, honourable Members, I have high hopes for the **period** between now and the end of this parliamentary term.
  ([Europarl v8](https://www.statmt.org/europarl/) · Source: European Parliament proceedings, Europarl v8 (Koehn 2005) via OPUS (Tiedemann 2012) · checked, professional translation · segment 906110)

- La première période **débute** le 1er avril 2006.
  The first **period** shall begin on 1 April 2006.
  ([DGT-TM v2021](https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/language-technology-resources/dgt-translation-memory_en) · Source: European Commission, DGT-TM (Steinberger et al. 2012), re-used under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU; the Commission keeps ownership of the data · checked, professional translation · segment 1593885)

- J &apos; ai l &apos; espoir que ces initiatives annoncent le **début** d &apos; une nouvelle période de productivité.
  I hope that these steps represent the beginnings of a new **period** of productivity.
  ([United Nations Parallel Corpus v1.0](https://conferences.unite.un.org/UNCorpus) · Source: United Nations, United Nations Parallel Corpus v1.0 (Ziemski, Junczys-Dowmunt and Pouliquen 2016) · checked, professional translation · segment 15096516)

- le **début** de la période à laquelle un délai s'applique.
  The commencement of the **period** to which a time limit applies.
  ([DGT-TM v2021](https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/language-technology-resources/dgt-translation-memory_en) · Source: European Commission, DGT-TM (Steinberger et al. 2012), re-used under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU; the Commission keeps ownership of the data · checked, professional translation · segment 2776016)

- 81. La retenue est en général payable en deux étapes, la première étant le **début**, l &apos; autre la fin de la période d &apos; entretien ou de maintenance.
  The retention is usually payable in two stages, one at the commencement of the maintenance **period**, as it is often called, and the other at the end.
  ([United Nations Parallel Corpus v1.0](https://conferences.unite.un.org/UNCorpus) · Source: United Nations, United Nations Parallel Corpus v1.0 (Ziemski, Junczys-Dowmunt and Pouliquen 2016) · checked, professional translation · segment 9683446)

## More sentences

Sentence pairs with the word where no single translation was found: it may be translated by a phrase, or left out.

- Au **début**, j'ai essayé de tout noter dans mon carnet.
  At first I tried to write everything down in my notebook.
  ([Tatoeba](https://tatoeba.org/) · Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR · sentences by icietla and CK · checked, community translation · [\#244044](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/244044) [\#331627](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/331627))

- Il n'était pas comme ça au **début**.
  He wasn't like that at first.
  ([Tatoeba](https://tatoeba.org/) · Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR · sentences by lbdx and Hybrid · checked, community translation · [\#7285354](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/7285354) [\#10604581](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/10604581))

- Tu avais raison depuis le **début**.
  You were right all along.
  ([Tatoeba](https://tatoeba.org/) · Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR · sentences by lbdx and CK · checked, community translation · [\#3356450](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/3356450) [\#9749027](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/9749027))

## Grammar

Notes on grammar and translation on Mova: [French grammar](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/fr/) · [English grammar](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/en/) · [translating between English and French](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/translation/pairs/en-fr/) · [translating from French](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/translation/from-fr/) · [translating into English](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/translation/into-en/).

## About these examples

Translations are found by how often the two words stand in the same sentence pairs, and the highlighted words are matched automatically: both are approximate. Counts are estimated from a sample of each source. Every example names its source and licence. [Submit a better translation or example](https://md.translate.elamur.ai/free/en/submit/?pair=fr-en&word=d%C3%A9but).


Every example is quoted under its source's licence and credited with it; the rest of the site is open under the Elamur Cosmic License.