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Offroad Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
In vs at the beginning
Dear teachers...
I was pleased to know the differences between 'in the end' and 'at the end'.
In the end, everything is going to work out.
He usually does that at the end of every month.
Now, I do wonder if the same principle can be applied to 'beginning'. I mean, what's the difference between 'at the beginning' and 'in the beginning'?
These are examples I got from the Corpus of Contemporary American English:
... you put in $10,000 in the beginning of last year ...
I mean, I know that she was appointed in the beginning, but do you know where she is?
It happened in the beginning of a time in history we call the Civil Rights Movement, when people fought ...
And President Obama referenced that line at the beginning of the speech last night...
I will go back to say what I said at the beginning of the year, there is great and powerful evil, but there is great...
And you explain your motivation at the beginning of the book, that you wanted to help them make sure that your father...
Many thanks
I was pleased to know the differences between 'in the end' and 'at the end'.
In the end, everything is going to work out.
He usually does that at the end of every month.
Now, I do wonder if the same principle can be applied to 'beginning'. I mean, what's the difference between 'at the beginning' and 'in the beginning'?
These are examples I got from the Corpus of Contemporary American English:
... you put in $10,000 in the beginning of last year ...
I mean, I know that she was appointed in the beginning, but do you know where she is?
It happened in the beginning of a time in history we call the Civil Rights Movement, when people fought ...
And President Obama referenced that line at the beginning of the speech last night...
I will go back to say what I said at the beginning of the year, there is great and powerful evil, but there is great...
And you explain your motivation at the beginning of the book, that you wanted to help them make sure that your father...
Many thanks
Top answer
I don't believe that native speakers consistently or carefully distinguish between in the end/beginning and at the end/beginning , (as is evidenced by your COCA examples), but yes, the strict distinctions would be the same.
- I don't believe that native speakers consistently or carefully distinguish between in the end/beginning and at the end/beginning , (as is evidenced by your COCA examples), but yes, the strict distinctions would be the same.
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1 Answers
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I don't believe that native speakers consistently or carefully distinguish between in the end/beginning and at the end/beginning, (as is evidenced by your COCA examples), but yes, the strict distinctions would be the same.
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