at the beginning of可以指时间，也可以指位置。指时间时（着重于一点）意为“在……之初”，指位置时意为“在……开头”。

This happened at the beginning of the year.

这件事发生在年初。

This word can’t be used at the beginning of the sentence.

这个词不能用于句子的开头。

in the beginning仅指时间（着重于时间段），意为“起初、在初期”，相当于at first，其后不能接of短语，常用作状语。

In the beginning she was not interested in swimming，but now she has become a good swimmer.

起初她对游泳不感兴趣，可现在却成为一名游泳好手。

He didn’t like it in the beginning.

开始，他不喜欢它。

自我测试

请将下列句子译成英语。

    1.一开始，所有的人都保持沉默。

    2.音乐会开始时有多少个歌手？

    3.在初秋，天气往往晴朗。

    4.一开始，商店里的人没有明白他的话。

答 案：

1. In the beginning all the people kept silent.

2. How many singers were there at the beginning of the concert?

3. It is often fine at the beginning of the autumn.

4. In the beginning the man in the shop didn’t understand him.