Thread: начинаться vs начинать

Originally Posted by impulse

I think "у нас лето начинается" the summer begins. yes? (what is the literal translation?). I try to understand where у нас лето (ся) in this context refers to? нас or лето?

Начинается лето. - Summer begins.
У нас начинается лето. - Summer begins at our place. (maybe in our country, in our region, in our town etc.)

Originally Posted by impulse

Would you use начинаться like this = фильм начинается по телевизору : film begins on the televisin.

Would you use начинать like this = она начинает говорить : she begins to talk.

Everything's right, but you need infinitive after "начинать": Она начинает говорить. She begins to talk.
Она говорит. - She talks.