大家在日常的英语学习中或在英语考试中都会遇到：“begin to do sth.”与“begin doing sth.”的相关辨析问题。很多时候都是模棱两可，含糊不清；像begin, start, continue , cease这样的一些表示开始、继续、结束意义的动词，既可以接带to的不定式，也可以接动名词，粗略地说，意义没有明显的差别。（begin和 start可以视为同义词）

Lucy began/started/continued/ceased to write (writing) while in hospital.

露西住院时开始（继续，停止）写作。

She began playing / to play table tennis when he was five.

她五岁开始打乒乓球。

那么一定要找出这类词的接不定式或动名词的细微差别，那么：

1.后接动名词时表示“动作的实际进行”，而接不定式则表示“动作的潜在可能”：

He stops talking and begins to eat. 他停止了讲话并要开始吃东西。

He began speaking, and kept on for more than an hour.

他开始了讲话，一直讲了一个多小时。

2.后接动名词更倾向于还表示动作的多次性或反复性，但是你硬要后接不定式也不能说错：

She began opening all the cupboards.

她开始打开所有的食橱柜。

3.不定式既然是表示“即将的，还未进行的，潜在的动作”，那么后接的动词如果是表示心理活动或情感的动词，如像“know”、“understand”、“believe”、“wonder”、“think”等，这些动词则需要用“to do”的形式，不能用“doing”的形式。如：

She began to think she was wrong after a second thought.

经过重新考虑后，她开始认为她错了。

I slowly began ________ how she felt.

to understand B. understand C. understanding D. understood

答案自如填A较为妥当。

I was beginning to think you'd never come.

我开始以为你是不会来了。

4. 主语一般不是指人，而是“It”等，若“begin”的主语不是指人，而是指物，如天气等，后面的动词只能用“to do”形式。如：

Scarcely had the game started when it began to rain.

比赛才开始就下起雨来了。

I had hardly come into the room when it began to rain.

我刚进屋就下雨了。

He took one smell of the liquid and his eyes began to water.

他闻了一下那种液体，就流起泪来了。

The skies grew dark and it began to rain.

天渐渐黑了，又下起雨来。

It began to snow lightly.

开始下小雪了。

The stock-market index fell by 80% before it began to recover.

股市指数下跌了80%后才开始反弹。

The river widens considerably as it begins to turn east.

河流转向东流时河道大幅度变宽。

Cook the bacon until it begins to crisp

把熏肉烹至酥脆。

It began to show how happy and thankful it was ．

它开始表达自己有多么开心和感激。

中考真题- 2019 吉林

When people are having a picnic, but it begins to rain, they will be so sure about something that shows the weather is going to be fine very quickly.

当人们野餐遇到下雨时，他们也会相信一些能表明天气会很快转晴的迹象。中考真题- 2016 新疆

Too much sun dries the skin and it begins to wrinkle.

过多晒太阳皮肤就会干燥起皱。

但是，如果拟人化表达，也是可以用动名词的：

The elephant ran into Sally's yard, and it began eating grass.

大象跑进萨利的院子里,开始吃草。

中考真题- 2015 北京

5. 在“begin”这类词的进行时其实有其特别的含义，即渐渐地、慢慢地、一点一滴地、终于等那种细腻的开始，表示动作的细腻性，一般后接动词的不定式，也避免了重复：

At last things were beginning to look up.

情况终于开始好转了。

It was beginning to cloud over.

天空开始阴云密布。

The streets were beginning to hum with life.

街道开始热闹起来。

The cracks in the government's economic policy are already beginning to show.

政府经济政策中的失误已开始显露出来。

The economy is at last beginning to recover.

经济终于开始复苏了。

Scientists think they are beginning to break through in the fight against cancer.

科学家认为他们在对抗癌症的研究中开始有所突破。

After five years in the job, he was beginning to feel restless.

这份工作干了五年以后，他开始厌烦了。

Businesses are beginning to feel the full impact of the recession.

工商企业开始感受到了经济衰退的全面冲击。

The full horror of the accident was beginning to become clear.

这次悲惨事故的真相已开始逐渐清晰了。

Continuing strikes are beginning to play havoc with the national economy.

持续的罢工开始严重破坏国家经济。

It had been a long day and the children were beginning to flag.

这一天真漫长，孩子们都累得打起蔫来。

She was beginning to feel her age.

她开始感到自己上年纪了。

The water in the pan was beginning to bubble.

锅里的水开始冒泡。

Her sight is beginning to go.

她的视力开始下降。

The light was beginning to fail.

天色渐暗。

He hadn't washed for days and was beginning to smell.

他好久没洗澡了，身上都有味儿了。

He was beginning to feel distinctly uneasy about their visit.

他对他们的造访明显地感到不安起来。

Doubts were beginning to cloud my mind.

种种疑问开始使我的思路变模糊了。

The project is beginning to show results.

这项工程开始显出成效。

The pressure of work is beginning to get to him.

工作的压力使他烦恼起来。

After five years in the job, he was beginning to feel restless.

这份工作干了五年以后，他开始厌烦了。

She is beginning to do her homework.

她在开始做她的家庭作业了。

Our baby is just starting to crawl.

我们的宝宝刚开始会爬。

News is starting to trickle out.

消息渐渐传了出来。

Now people are starting to realise that he means business.

人们现在才开始明白他不是在开玩笑。

The economy is starting to climb out of recession

经济开始走出衰退。

Resentments are starting to fester.

仇恨开始日益加深。

The company is only just starting to reap the rewards of long-term investments

这家公司才刚刚开始收获长期投资的回报。

He's starting to get a little thin on top.

他开始有点谢顶了。

September had come and the leaves were starting to fall.

已到九月了，树叶开始凋落。

The supports under the bridge were starting to bend.

桥下的支柱开始弯曲。

The flowers are starting to open.

花开始绽放了。

The fruit is starting to go rotten.

水果已经开始腐烂变质了。

The World Cup bandwagon is starting to roll.

世界杯足球赛热潮即将涌起。

Now she's a teenager, she's starting to be interested in boys.

她现在已经是个十几岁的姑娘了，开始对男孩子感兴趣。