This is the 192nd most frequent Slovenian word.
začel
The Slovenian word "začel" means "started" or "began" in English.
In this sentence, "začel" means 'started' and is used to describe the initiation of an activity, which is reading in this case.
Peter je začel brati novo knjigo.
Peter started reading a new book.
Here, "začel" is used to indicate the beginning of an event, specifically the rain starting to fall.
Dež je začel padati včeraj zvečer.
The rain started falling yesterday evening.
In this example, "začel" (here as "začeli" for the plural subject) signifies the commencement of a process, i.e., the starting of a project.