Beginning vs. Begin

[Doris U.]

Test No. incompl/elem-6 "Start/Begin", question 4

I read the ......... of that book but I couldn't possibly read the whole story.

(a) starting
(b) start
(c) beginning
(d) begin

Test No. incompl/elem-6 "Start/Begin", answer 4

I read the beginning of that book but I couldn't possibly read the whole story.

Correct answer: (c) beginning
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Why not begin???

Doris U.

[Alan]

You need the noun here beginning.
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Colour Idioms

[Daemon99]

And why not starting?
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Non-native speaker of English
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I intend to live forever - so far, so good.

[Alan]

Hi,

'Starting' is not usually used as a noun but more often in an adjectival function as 'starting point'.

Alan
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English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story If you vote

[Editha]

Hi,
can someone explain me this "start" and "begin" writing???
It's realy important to me