it began to get dark vs it was beginning to get dark

Both phrases are correct, but they differ slightly in terms of tense and emphasis. 'It began to get dark' is in the simple past tense and indicates a specific point in time when darkness started to set in. 'It was beginning to get dark' is in the past continuous tense and suggests a more gradual process of darkness falling. The choice between the two depends on the context and the specific nuance the speaker wants to convey.

Last updated: April 01, 2024 • 7194 views

it began to get dark

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

This phrase is used to indicate the moment when darkness started to set in. It is in the simple past tense.

Examples:

As we walked through the forest, it began to get dark.
After the sun set, it began to get dark quickly.
It began to get dark earlier than usual that evening.

Show examples from the web [+]

Just about the same time, the sun had gone down behind the Spy-glass, and as the fog was collecting rapidly, it began to grow dark in earnest.
Only dipped light - precisely dark curtain began to fall on walls by lying.
The first extras arrived already in the morning. Although shooting only began after dark, hundreds of cars and dozens of busses soon arrived.
The legend began beneath these dark hills and under this same sky.
All of a sudden, large drops of rain began falling from the dark sky.
It began to rebalance the round.
We were two blocks from Paul's house when it began to pour.
Then it began to seethe, boil and harden.
But then it began to take its toll.
But eventually it began to symbolise my deliberate attempts to keep my relationship with Natalie unclear.
It began to affect my brain almost immediately.
Bear in mind that it began to appear in 1986.
But then it began to get confusing.
Finally in those bodies it began to have the deposit of its faith.
By the mid '30s, it began to reconstruct.
From 1609 it began to perfect and to use the telescope like tool for the astronomical observations.
For the next day it began to burn again.
From small height it began to drop 500-kilogram bombs.
Soon it began to appear at parents with the fighting friends.
He cleaned the instrument, and it began to shine.

Alternatives:

it started to get dark
darkness began to fall
nightfall began
the light faded
dusk approached

it was beginning to get dark

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

This phrase is used to describe a gradual process of darkness falling. It is in the past continuous tense.

Examples:

As we sat outside, it was beginning to get dark.
At that time of year, it was beginning to get dark by 4 p.m.
The room was dimly lit as it was beginning to get dark outside.

Show examples from the web [+]

It was beginning to get dark, and Tucker spied a big owl up in a tree.
It was beginning to look a little like shark week.
It was beginning to feel a lot like Thanksgiving.
But the project was running into problems and it was beginning to lose its innocence.
But a few hours in, it was beginning to look like a depressing repeat of '64 and '65.
I began work on GNU Emacs in September 1984, and in early 1985 it was beginning to be usable.
It was beginning to build up to be really lovely.
And it was beginning to seem like there may be ways of tricking nothingness into existence.
Since the beginning Gene represented the dark side of KISS.
I agree, that was a... dark beginning, but it was also a very different time in both of our histories.
Look, you can throw me out if you want to, but... you looked so cozzy in here and your decorator friend had gone home, and it was beginning to get a bit cold out there on the fire escape.
The total nonsense was completed with the experiment of Michelson-Morley in 1887. It was beginning to be urgent to find a way out of the embarrassing situation.
which suggests that already it was beginning to echo-locate, to hear its own calls so it navigates during flying.
The accession of the Roman Church to power marked the beginning of the Dark Ages.
As Neo-realism wasn't there anymore, as well as the purity of the "ragazzi di vita", and the Country was crossed by several currents and accidents, it was beginning to cultivate a new "lie".
Decades of truly diabolical intentions have been leading up to this moment: in the beginning, the dark possessed the technology to entice the naïve to join its ranks, and by the end of World War II, a dark master plan started to manifest.
The Spanish Civil War marked the beginning of several dark decades for football in Barcelona - several players fought against Franco's rebellion and the club's president was assassinated in a bid to dampen local morale.
"The swift and determined response stopped the attack as it was beginning and prevented more innocents from being injured," said Moshe Edri, regional police commander.
I think it was beginning theory, and I flunked.
Jana was beginning to walk funny.

Alternatives:

it was starting to get dark
darkness was setting in
nightfall was approaching
the light was fading
dusk was descending

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it began to get dark vs it was beginning to get dark