When can I use 起来 to say "to begin"? Once I thought that 起来 meant &quot;to begin&quot; but could be used only in situations when something is going up or taken up (just as characters say). But it's not true. There are:

笑起来,
藏起来,
吃起饭来,
others.

On the other hand, I wanted to say &quot;I also started to learn English&quot; and I said &quot;我也学习英语起来&quot;, but I got corrected. So it made me realise that 起来 can't be used with all verbs probably. So when can I use it to say &quot;to start&quot;?
(Let's omit 看起来，听起来 because they don't mean &quot;begin to look&quot; or &quot;begin to hear&quot;).
If there is an object, it should be inserted between 起来
我也学习英语起来 --&gt; 我也学习起英语来

[(v) + (起来)] = [(start) + (v)]


e.g. &quot;他忽然笑(起来)&quot; -- &quot;he suddenly start laughing&quot;

~

[v + (起) + object + (来)] = [(start) + v + object]


e.g. &quot;他学起英语来&quot; -- &quot;He started to learn English&quot;

~

[(v) + (起来) + statement] = [(upon/ when) + (v) + statement]


e.g. &quot;他笑起来很恐怖&quot; - &quot;He is scary when he laughs&quot;