Began to

From Create Your Own Story

Two of the most frequently abused phrases in writing are began to and started to. These are phrases that should be used sparingly.


He began to get on the bus.

Did he stop getting on? Unless something interrupted him, just let him get on. Make it:

He got on the bus.


It began to rain.

This is where began to is useful. In this sentence, it implies that the rain is something that is still going on.


Let's begin to remove unnecessary begin tos. It slows down your sentences and doesn't really make sense when the action is completed.

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