Get the First Word of a String in JavaScript

Get the First Word of a String #

To get the first word of a string:

1. Call the split() method passing it a string containing an empty space as a parameter. The split method will return an array containing the words in the string.
2. Access the array at index 0 to get the first word of the string.

Copied!
const str = 'Hello world';

const first = str.split(' ')[0]
console.log(first); // 👉️ Hello

The String.split method splits a string into an array, based on a provided separator.

Copied!
const str = 'Hello world';

const split = str.split(' ')
console.log(split) // 👉️ ['Hello', 'world']

By splitting the string on each space, we get an array containing the words in the string.

The final step is to access the array element (word) at index 0.

Alternatively, we can use the shift() method on the array to get its first element.

Copied!
const str = 'Hello world';

const first = str.split(' ').shift();
console.log(first); // 👉️ Hello

The Array.shift method removes and returns the first element from an array.

Which approach you pick is a matter of personal preference. I'd go with the direct index access as I find it more readable and intuitive.

Further Reading #

• Get the first N words from a String in JavaScript
• Capitalize the First Letter of Each Word in JavaScript
• Get the Last Word of a String in JavaScript
• Check if First Letter of String is Uppercase in JavaScript
• How to count the words in a String in JavaScript
• Count the Unique Words in a String using JavaScript
• Interpolate Variable in a String in JavaScript
• Remove all non-alphanumeric Characters from String in JS