English · Idiom Candidate A2

first of all

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

used to indicate the most important thing

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

để chỉ điều quan trọng nhất

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: initial point in a sequence

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

First of all, we need to finish the project.

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Equivalents & related

Near equivalent trước hết (adverb) firstly; first of all Tiếng Việt Near equivalent trước tiên (adverb) first of all; firstly; foremost Tiếng Việt Near equivalent trước nhất (adverb) first of all, first and foremost Tiếng Việt Near equivalent first and foremost Most importantly or primarily English · via trước nhất

Lighter cards are two steps away in the meaning graph — equivalents of equivalents, reached via the entry shown on the card.

Common questions

What does “first of all” mean?

used to indicate the most important thing Literally: initial point in a sequence

Is “first of all” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

What is the closest equivalent?

“trước hết” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.