In the beginning vs. at the beginning

When do we say “in the beginning” and “at the beginning”? “In the end” or “at the end”?

Read the song lyrics. Which preposition would you use in each case? In or at?

I tried so hard and got so far
But _____ the end
It doesn’t even matter
(Linkin’ Park, In the End)

You hardly talk to me anymore
When I come through the door
_____ the end of the day
(Barbra Stresiand and Neil Diamond, You Don’t Bring Me Flowers)

The answers are: in / at.

Here’s a quick summary of the rules:

In the beginning usually means initially, at first. In the end usually means eventually, finally. For example:

“I was skeptical in the beginning, but Facebook has won me over.”

“You’ll be glad you became a mentor. In the end, you’ll learn much more than you’ll teach.”

At the beginning and at the end mean literally at the beginning or end and are often (though not always, of course) followed by an expression of time or space:

At the end of the street, at the beginning of the week, at the end of the day, at the beginning of the lesson.

This means that in the beginning and in the end followed by the preposition of are far less common than at the beginning or at the end. Compare the approximate number of google occurrences:

At the beginning of: 350 million.

In the beginning of: 37 million.

At the end of: 1 billion, 350 million (!!)

In the end of: 77 million.

Interestingly, I’ve stumbled upon a few open forums where native speakers were also grappling with the differences between in the beginning and at the beginning, in the end or at the end.

1. They associated in the beginning with religion: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

2. More than two or three people came up with the chunk “start at the beginning” when asked about at the beginning.

3. It was usually the non-native speakers that tried to analyze beginning and end together. Most natives considered each set of phrases in its own right.

Thanks for reading and I hope that, in the end, the post was worth reading.