A CORPUS-BASED COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE VERBS START AND BEGIN IN ACADEMIC WRITING

Abstract

This corpus-based study conducts a comparative analysis of the verbs start and  begin in academic writing, focusing on their frequency, distribution, and contextual usage within Pakistani academic genres, including theses, essays, and newspaper articles from Dawn. Drawing from a dataset of 10 essays, 5 theses, and 2 Dawn articles, the research identifies 26 examples, revealing that start appears more frequently (20 instances) than begin (6 instances). Contexts show start often associated with dynamic, agentive actions such as  beginning work, routines, or events, while begin is used in more formal or gradual initiations. A graphical comparison with the Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English (MICASE) highlights distributional differences, with start dominating in written Pakistani contexts. The findings underscore the role of synonyms in enhancing academic clarity and suggest implications for English language teaching in non-native contexts.