to begin to, to start to
The preposition is part of the word. Without it the answer is wrong in ripiti: cominciare a, not cominciare.
On the card “to begin to”, ripiti also accepts iniziare a.
Remember cominciare a for good. ripiti brings the word back just before you forget it, with these sentences. Free, no account needed, works offline.
practise cominciare a in ripiti