I started my new job at the beginning of the year.
✗Don’t say: in the beginning of the year
nCOLLOCATIONS
adjectives
a new beginning
The country needed a new government and a new beginning.
verbs
mark the beginning of something (also signal/herald the beginning of something) (=show that something is starting to happen)
This event marked the beginning of a ten-year worldwide depression.
see the beginning of something (=be the time when something important starts to happen)
The 1970s saw the beginning of a technological revolution.
phrases
right at/from the beginning (=used for emphasis)
That’s what I suggested right at the beginning.
at/from the very beginning (=used for emphasis)
He had been lying to me from the very beginning.
start at the beginning (=start a story or activity at the first part)
Just start at the beginning and tell us exactly what happened.
from beginning to end
The whole project was full of problems from beginning to end.
something is just/only the beginning (=used to emphasize that many more things will happen)
Signing the contract is just the beginning of a long process.
THESAURUS
beginning the first part of something such as a story, event, or period of time 开始,开头
The beginning of the movie is very violent.
这部影片的开头很暴力。
Let’s go back to the beginning.
让我们回到开始的地方。
start the beginning of something, or the way something begins 开始
Tomorrow marks the start of the presidential election campaign.
明天总统竞选活动正式开始。
It was not a good start to the day.
对这一天而言,这不是个好的开始。
nThe runners lined up for the start of the race.
commencement formal the beginning of something – used especially in officialcontexts 开端,开始〔尤用于正式语境〕
the commencement of the academic year
学年的开始
nthe commencement of the contract
origin the point from which something starts to exist 起源,起因
He wrote a book about the origins of the universe.
他写了本有关宇宙起源的书。
The tradition has its origins in medieval times.
这一传统起源于中世纪。
the onset of something the time when something bad begins, such as illness, old age, or coldweather 某(坏)事的开始[发作]
the onset of winter
冬天的来临
An active lifestyle can delay the onset of many diseases common to aging.
积极的生活方式能够延缓许多老年常见疾病的发作。
dawn literary the beginning of an important period of time in history 〔某个重要历史时期的〕开端
People have worshipped gods since the dawn of civilization.
自有文明以来人们就敬奉神明。
birth the beginning of something important that will change many people’s lives 〔将改变许多人生活的重要事情的〕诞生,出现
the birth of democracy in South Africa
南非民主的诞生
the birth of the environmental movement
环境保护运动的起始
Examples from the Corpus
beginning• School children are taught that stories should have a beginning, a middle and an end.• That was how we'd set it up from the beginning.• From the beginning it was decided that the Group should be entirely independent of Aldus.• It was the beginning of the end.• The beginning of the movie is very violent.• Joan's been involved in disabledsport from its very beginning, at the ParaplegicGames at Stoke Mandeville in 1948.• The author tells us who the killer is at the very beginning of the novel.
beginning of• The solstice marks the beginning ofwinter.
ADJECTIVE | VERB + BEGINNING | PREPOSITION | PHRASESADJECTIVE➤new新開端◇She spoke of a new beginning for the nation.她談到了國家的新開端。➤auspicious, hopeful, promising良好的/充滿希望的/大有可為的開端◇It was an auspicious beginning to his long career.這是他漫長生涯的良好開端。➤inauspicious, unpromising (especially BrE) 不祥的/無希望的開端VERB + BEGINNING➤herald, mark, represent, signal, signify, spell, symbolize預示着/標誌着/代表/示意/表明/意味着/象徵着開始◇This invention marked the beginning of the modern age.這項發明標誌着近代的開始。➤see, witness見證⋯開端◇2001 saw the beginning of a period of rapid growth.自 2001 年開始有一個快速增長期。➤trace追溯開始◇a custom that traces its beginnings to the 15th century起源可追溯到 15 世紀的一種風俗PREPOSITION➤at the beginning (of sth)在(⋯的)開端◇I'm paid at the beginning of each month.每月月初給我發工資。➤from the beginning從頭◇Tell me the whole story, right from the beginning.給我講一下整件事,從頭講。➤in the beginning開始時◇In the beginning I found the course very difficult.一開始我覺得這門課程很難。PHRASES➤the beginning of the end結束的開始◇That day was the beginning of the end of our friendship.那天起我們的友誼結束了。➤early beginnings, first beginnings最初開始的時候◇The society had its early beginnings in discussion groups.這個協會是以討論小組的形式發端的。➤from beginning to end從頭至尾◇The play was nonsense from beginning to end.這部戲劇從頭到尾都是廢話。➤from humble beginnings, from modest beginnings, from small beginnings從早期的卑微/不起眼/微小◇From these small beginnings it grew into the vast company we know today.這家企業從一點一滴做起,發展成為今天我們所知的大公司。➤be just the beginning, be only the beginning才剛開始;只不過是開始◇These changes are just the beginning: much more is to come.這些變化不過是個開始:還會有更多的變化。➤the very beginning最開始◇I disliked her from the very beginning.我從一開始就不喜歡她。