| Subject | English | Russian |
| gen. | why didn't you say so to begin with | с этого следовало бы начать (Taras) |
| gen. | why didn't you say so to begin with | вот с этого и надо было начинать (Taras) |
| gen. | why didn't you say so to begin with | с этого и надо было начинать (Taras) |
| gen. | why didn't you say so to begin with | так бы сразу и сказали ("Call the Doc. Tell him it's about money, not medicine." "Why didn't you say so to begin with," she sniffed as he banged the intercom. "Cash customer to see you, Admiral." (Harry Harrison) Taras) |
| gen. | why ... to begin with? | зачем вообще ...? (о поступке, поведении • The fork in the trail that Hedges was originally meant to take up to his destination was clearly delineated and visible, and he was equipped with a GPS, yet he had gone right by it. He had then managed to set up a camp that evaded a complete search of the same area, then taken his boots off in freezing weather and somehow managed to walk 6 miles over rough terrain off-trail through snow, which authorities see as highly unlikely, as it would have been an incredible feat for even the most hardened survivalist. Indeed, why had he taken his shoes off to begin with?  mysteriousuniverse.org ART Vancouver) |
| gen. | why would she have + pp to begin with? | зачем ей вообще понадобилось ...? (One idea was that she had gone down to the road and either hitchhiked a ride or been kidnapped, but why would she have gone there? Another was that she had simply gotten lost and met with misfortune, but with her knowledge of the area, this seemed unlikely, and again, why would she have gone off into the wilderness to begin with? (mysteriousuniverse.org) ART Vancouver) |