ENGLISH
REFERENCE

start to

fixed phr..
A1 Beginner Oxford General-service

fixed phr.. to begin doing an action or to enter a new state.

fixed phr.. an aspectual construction using the infinitive to indicate the inception of an action or state; functionally similar to 'start' followed by a gerund.


SIMPLE

It is starting to rain.

CONTEXTUAL

After a few minutes of silence, the audience started to clap and cheer for the band.

COMPLEX

As the global economy began its slow recovery, investors started to regain confidence in the stability of emerging markets.

Usage

followed by the base form of a verb to show the beginning of an activity.

Teaching tip

help students notice that 'start to [verb]' and 'start [verb]-ing' are usually interchangeable, though 'start to' is often preferred for stative verbs like 'understand' or 'realize'.

Pitfall

He starts to playing.He starts to play.the word 'to' must be followed by the base form of the verb, not the -ing form.

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