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Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

at/in the beginning

Hi,

1.'In/At the beginning of the month/book/movie.'

Are 'in' and 'at' both fine to use here? If so, what is the difference between 'in' and 'at' here?

2.'I thought he loved me; perhaps he did in/at the beginning.'

Could we use 'at' instead of 'in' here? What is the difference between 'in the beginning' and 'at the beginning' here?

Thank you very much.
  

Top answer

They both sound okay to me. I'm not sensing any difference. Perhaps others might feel there is one, but I don't.

— BarbaraPA

  • They both sound okay to me.
  • I'm not sensing any difference.
  • Perhaps others might feel there is one, but I don't.
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4 Answers
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They both sound okay to me. I'm not sensing any difference. Perhaps others might feel there is one, but I don't.
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Grammar Geek,Thank you very much.
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A fairly good rule of thumb is to use at when of follows:

at the beginning/end of the movie
at the beginning/end of the month

If there is no of, in is usually the better choice:

In t
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Hi CB,

I'm glad you wrote that. I had originally written that if I heard "at the beginning" I would infer the "of our relationship" part that wasn't explicitly stated, but then I doubted myself. Your rule seems like a very good one to me!
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