How to Say ‘First / ahead of (doing first)’ in Japanese
先に
saki ni
[SAH-kee NEE]
💬 Usage Tip: [先に] means “before/first.” Often used with actions: [先にやる] (do first).
🇯🇵 In Japan: Japanese planning talk often uses [先に] and [あとで] to keep order clear, especially in group tasks.
Phrase Breakdown
先
saki
[SAH-kee]
ahead / first / before
先 means “ahead/previous/earlier.” With に (先に) it often means “first” or “before (something else).”
先にこれをしてください。
Please do this first.
に
ni
[NEE]
(particle) to / at / in order to
Here it makes an adverbial phrase: 先に = “beforehand / first.”
先に言っておきます。
I’ll say this in advance.
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