Ⅰ. at the beginning 和 in the beginning都可表“起初、开始、原先”之意。两者间没有明显的区别,通常可互换。如:
① You’ll find it difficult to learn Russian at the beginning. 起初,你会觉得俄语很难。
② In the beginning I didn’t know this.开始我不知道这事。
Ⅱ. 若表当今世界的开头,则必须用in the beginning eg:
In the beginning there were no men nor animals nor plants. 在盘古开天辟地时,既没有人,也没有 动植物。
Ⅲ. at the beginning of “在……之初”, 其后通常 接表时间,事件或其它意义的名词,其反义词组为at the end of. 如:
① At the beginning of 1975 he came back to China. 1975年初,他回到了中国。。
② This adverb can also be placed at the beginning of the sentence.这副词也可以放在句子的开头。