[Grammar] begin to~, begin ~ing

[eggcracker]

Are these two sentences are grammatical and natural?

1."Gaston's poems began to be published once again in Cuba."
2."Gaston's poems began being published once again in Cuba."

 

[5jj]

Are these two sentences [STRIKE]are[/STRIKE] grammatical and natural?

1."Gaston's poems began to be published once again in Cuba."
2."Gaston's poems began being published once again in Cuba."

They are grammatical but they are not very natural. Making Gaston's poems the subject of a passive construction after BEGIN seems to suggest that they had some role in this.

If you are asking whether BEGIN can be followed by both a to- infinitive a nd an -ing form, the answer is yes.

 

[CarloSsS]

This should sound natural. Does it?

Once again, they started publishing/to publish Gaston's poems in Cuba.

 

[5jj]

This should sound natural. Does it?

Once again, they started publishing/to publish Gaston's poems in Cuba.

'Once again' at the beginning can imply irritation.

I think more natural would be, "They have started publishing/to publish Gaston's poems again in Cuba".