“I start work at 9 o’ clock and finish at 5:30”
You can also use “to work” on that one with the same meaning right?
If you mean “I start to work” well … yes, but this means I leave the house rather than actually the time I start work.
Now I got it! Thanks HamburgEnglish!
Hamburg, I beg to differ: “I start work at 9” is idiomatic, whereas “I start to work at 9” is simply not used. There is no specific reason why it should not be used, but it isn’t.
Hi Aikuzo,
‘I start to work’ suggests that you are beginning a particular task and I presume in your sentence you don’t want to say that. What you want to say is ‘my working day begins at 9’. And then there is the use of ‘finish’ at the end of the sentence - you can’t have ‘start to’ and then say ‘finish’ because that would require ‘finish to work’ and that isn’t used. In summary stick to ‘start work’.
Alan
Beg all you wish Cerberus…
Fact is - start to work is not so often used to mean “the start of the working process of a person when decribing the point at which their actual working process starts …”
As Alan said “I start work at 09:00” is the common form used to mean my action of starting work e.g. when I officially have to clock-in … and … this would then be used in a sentence …
I start work at 09:00 and finish work at 17:00.
It is not in my eyes Idiomatic!
Now as I said …
… and I used the term “not so often” because in fact in some context it can be used …
e.g.
The new heating system will start to work at 09:00 and stop at 15:00.
I kept turning the ignition key, but the car would not start. Suddenly, when I felt I would never get it going, it started to work…
Now in the context or a person, we could also say …
Although he starts work at 09:00, he is so lazy he does not actually start “to” work until 09:30.
In another context, maybe of someone’s working day the terms could be used as follows …
I normally start to work at 08:00 and arrive at 08:30. I always arrive early so I can have some breakfast in the canteen before I start work at 09:00.
In many of the “start to work” situations, we can use “start working” with exception to the meaning of “starting one’s travel to work” …
e.g.
The new heating system will start working at 09:00 and stop at 15:00.
I kept turning the ignition key, but the car would not start. Suddenly, when I felt I would never get it going, it started working …
Although he starts work at 09:00, he is so lazy he does not actually start working until 09:30.
Here the “working” will not work!
I normally start to work at 08:00 and arrive at 08:30. I always arrive early so I can have some breakfast in the canteen before I start work at 09:00.
Where I come from we would normally say “start working” but sometimes, “start to work” for the start of a work process, “start work” for the time we must clock-in and sometimes use “start to work” meaning the start of the travel to work.
In context of the travel to; I could also use “leave home” which by some, may be seen as the preferred option …
However you look at this use, there is cultural/area differences and as I preach in to those in this forum so often; no particluar way can be seen as incorrect for we all speak differently. Incorrect can only be defined as the breaking of grammar rules and not the way in which a language is used!!
Nowadays and with the influence of American English, even the breaking of traditional grammar rules is “by strength of majority in use” becoming allowed and over more time, becoming a rule itelf.
Rob
www.onlineenglish.eu
TOEIC test preparation online.
www.hamburg-english.eu
International Business English.
“I start work at 9” is used by everyone I know, but again, I’m English and working class.
Perhaps it is a class difference.