〜だす

〜だす attaches to a verb's ます-form (drop ます) to say an action suddenly begins, often unexpectedly for the speaker: 泣きだす (burst out crying), 降りだす (suddenly start raining), 笑いだす (burst out laughing). It often appears together with 急に (suddenly).

Compared with 〜はじめる: both mean "begin", but 〜はじめる is neutral (雨が降りはじめました — it started to rain), while 〜だす emphasizes the suddenness (雨が降りだしました — it suddenly started raining).

Because it carries this "beyond one's control" nuance, 〜だす is not used for your own plans: to say "I'll start studying next month", you must say 来月勉強しはじめます, not 〜だす.

Examples

• 赤(あか)ちゃんが急(きゅう)に泣(な)きだしました。

  The baby suddenly burst out crying.

• 駅(えき)に着(つ)いたとき、雨(あめ)が降(ふ)りだしました。

  When I got to the station, it suddenly started raining.

• その話(はなし)を聞(き)いて、みんなが笑(わら)いだしました。

  Hearing that story, everyone burst out laughing.

Related patterns

• 〜はじめる・〜おわる・〜つづける