begin-v; 4 Senses

Sense Number 1: start, have an initial point

Commentary:
NOTE: The subject is NOT acting intentionally. It is either inanimate (and cannot have intentions), or it is animate but it is experiencing the beginning of something (like illness) rather than intending to begin something. Syntax Is: NP(patient) BEGIN (PP)

Examples:
Prices for these homes begin at $250,000
The war began on a Thursday.
She began to feel sick.
When life began was there oxygen in the atmosphere?
The novel begins with a shipwreck at sea.
It's beginning to look like rain.
His property begins at the fence.

Mappings:
VerbNet: begin-55.1-1
FrameNet: Process_start
PropBank: begin.01
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 2, 5, 6, 7

Sense Number 2: initiate an undertaking

Commentary:
NOTE: The subject IS acting intentionally; therefore, it must be animate or interpretable as animate (like a company). Syntax Is: NP1(agent) BEGIN NP2

Examples:
They'll begin their tour with a concert in London.
You should begin the stew now so it will have four hours to simmer.
The government is beginning to protect the coral reefs of that island.
He was just beginning a novel when the phone rang.
Acme Tire Company began offering their employees health insurance.
John has begun to take them seriously.
She began ballet at age four.

Mappings:
VerbNet: begin-55.1-1
FrameNet: Activity_start
PropBank: begin.01
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 1, 3, 8, 10

Sense Number 3: make a locution, speak

Commentary: Syntax Is: NP BEGIN [direct quotation]

Examples:
"now listen, friends", he began.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: NM
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 4

Sense Number 4: partially attain

Commentary: Syntax Is: NP MODAL-VERB BEGIN TO-COMP (functions as an intensifier, always in a negative context)
NOTE: The meaning of the sentence doesn't change if 'begin' is removed.

Examples:
The rent you could get for that place wouldn't begin to cover the mortgage and taxes.
Can those refugees even begin to hope they'll be granted asylum?
I couldn't begin to tell you all the ways she has contributed to this club.

Mappings:
VerbNet: begin-55.1-1
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: NM
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 9