student asking question

Does it sound different if I say "first of all" instead of "first"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

Yes, it would sound different to say "first" here instead of "first of all". "First of all" is a phase used as an adverb to introduce the first item out of a list of multiple. "First" is not an adverb, so it would sound awkward to use the word "first" in place of "first of all".

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