student asking question

What does "In the first place" mean? and when do you use it? How come this phrase was used at the last?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

"In the first place" means at the beginning; to begin with. It's typically used at the end of the sentence to show that something should have been said or done right away. It usually indicates something bad happened and could have been avoided if something was done at the beginning of the situation. Ex: We should have told her about it in the first place. Ex: If we would have told her right away we could have avoided her anger in the first place. Ex: If we have filled up the car in the first place, we wouldn't be in this mess.

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