Meaning & use
put first
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Meanings
phrasetransitive
To treat someone or something as more important than anything else.
Grammar: Takes an object, which goes between put and first: put your health first.
Patterns
- put someone first
- put something first
- put someone/something first in something
She always puts her children first, even when work is busy.
My doctor told me to put my recovery first and stop worrying about the office.
In this company we put safety first, so no one takes risks on site.
phrasetransitive
To deal with one thing before all the other things you have to do.
Grammar: Takes an object; often used with a list of tasks or jobs: put the urgent jobs first.
Patterns
- put something first
- put something first on the list
- put something first in order
If you put the urgent emails first, you will never get to the important planning.
Let's put the customer complaints first today and handle the rest tomorrow.
She put her exams first and turned down the party invitation.
Common combinations
- put family first
- He works long hours but still puts family first at weekends.
- put your health first
- You should put your health first and take some time off.
- put the customer first
- The new manager wants us to put the customer first in every decision.
- put your career first
- For years she put her career first and traveled whenever she could.
- put safety first
- The factory puts safety first, so everyone wears protective clothing.
- put your needs first
- It is not selfish to put your own needs first sometimes.
Synonyms and how they differ
- prioritize
- A more formal verb that means to decide which things matter most; use it in business or academic writing rather than in casual talk.
- favor
- This means to give someone better treatment or more support, but it does not always suggest they come before everything else.
- value
- This focuses on how highly you think of something, while put first focuses on the order in which you act.
Opposites
Word family
- first adverb
- Before anything or anyone else; the base word in this phrase.
- priority noun
- Something treated as more important than other things.
- prioritize verb
- To decide which things should come first.
Commonly confused: put first or first put?
put first vs first put
Word order matters: first put is used in instructions meaning 'before doing anything else, place it', as in 'First put the rice in water', not for showing importance.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'put first' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The object goes between put and first, so 'puts her friends first' is correct. Option A puts the object after first, which is not the normal pattern, and option C changes the meaning to 'at first' rather than priority.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “put first”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.