1. MONEY-CASH-CHANGE

These are all words for money in the form of coins or paper notes.

money in the form of coins or paper notes:

EX:

I counted the money carefully.

Where can I change my money into dollars?

paper money (= money that is made of paper, not coins)

cash money in the form of coins or paper notes:

How much cash do you have on you?

*Payments can be made by cheque or in cash.

money or cash? If it is important to contrast money in the form of coins and notes and money in other forms, use cash: How much money/​cash do you have on you? • Payments can be made by cheque or in money. • Customers are offered a discount if they pay money. change the money that you get back when you have paid for something giving more money than the amount it costs; coins rather than paper money:

The ticket machine doesn’t give change.

I don’t have any small change (= coins of low value).

• Patterns

to draw out/​get out/​take out/​withdraw money/​cash

ready money/​cash (= money that you have available to spend immediately)

2. START-BEGIN

There is not much difference in meaning between begin and start, though start is more common in spoken English:

EX:

What time does the concert start/​begin?

She started/​began working here three months ago.

Begin is often used when you are describing a series of events:

The story begins on the island of Corfu.

Start, but not begin, can also mean ‘to start a journey’, ‘to start something happening’ or ‘to start a machine working’:

We’ll need to start at 7.00.

Who do you think started the fire?

The car won’t start.

You can use either an infinitive or a form with -ing after begin and start, with no difference in meaning:

I didn’t start worrying/​to worry until she was 2 hours late.

After the forms beginning and starting, the -ing form of the verb is not normally used:

EX:

It’s starting/​beginning to rain.

It’s starting/​beginning raining.