Start and begin

[Guest]

Test No. incompl/elem-6 "Start/Begin", question 2

My car very rarely ......... first time when the weather is really cold.

(a) begins
(b) beginning
(c) starting
(d) starts

Test No. incompl/elem-6 "Start/Begin", answer 2

My car very rarely starts first time when the weather is really cold.

Correct answer: (d) starts
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what is the difference between START and BEGIN?

[Alan]

Hi,

A difficult question to answer in a few words. A car starts means functions or works in the sense of the motor comes to life. I would hesitate to give a simple definition of both verbs because there are so many idiomatic expressions which of course cannot be explained logically. All I can say and this is a very general difference is that start very often has a mechanical automatic sense and begin has a more thoughtful human sense. Hope this helps.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story A day in the life of a flat hunter

[Torsten]

In addition you might want to read Alan's article containing expressions with 'start' and 'begin':
http://www.english-test.net/articles/24/index.html
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Test Of English for International Communication
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