first minutes vs first couple of minutes

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in slightly different contexts. 'First minutes' is more general and can refer to any initial minutes, while 'first couple of minutes' is more specific and implies a short duration of time, typically around two minutes.

Last updated: April 04, 2024 • 234 views

This phrase is correct and can be used to refer to the initial minutes of an event, meeting, or any time period.

"first minutes"

This phrase is used to describe the beginning or initial part of a period of time, such as the first minutes of a game or the first minutes of a movie.

Examples:

In the first minutes of the game, the team scored a goal.
The first minutes of the meeting were spent discussing the agenda.
She missed the first minutes of the movie because she was late.

Show examples from the web [+]

Those first minutes... a complete blank.
But it the first minutes broke.
After first minutes of getting used to this unusual atmosphere the game has started.
From the first minutes after the explosion, hundreds of minors are presented to assist in relief operations.
From first minutes of attack of army of Hitlerites she entered with them fight.
Bullets pressed guerrillas to the earth, many of them were wounded the first minutes of fight.
The first minutes of the film illustrate this idea with some everyday examples, as well as some mathematical ones.
A special feature of this flame is that for the first minutes it does not burn.
The game costs $ 1 and pays back its cost in the first minutes.
Already in the first minutes, Bacchetti's musical conception was evident: a Bach seen by a perspective that we could define romantic, characterized by a certain drama in phrases and ratios...
That said, once you arrive at the chosen location, the first minutes are always a little bit embarrassing, so a brief introductory chat to get to know one another can help to break the ice.
In the field the runway had some faulty "seagulls" - them and bombed "yunkersa" the first minutes of a raid.
Probably if Lazio had not scored the goal in the first minutes Juventus would have been much more difficult for the pressure that every Lazio player was playing on them.
Our preliminary analysis of the first minutes of the attack show that the shooters entered through the southwest entrance.
Thanks to 'Seagull', we can reach them and eliminate them in the first minutes of the conflict... destroying the entire Soviet leadership and military command in one stroke.
After the first minutes, by when the desire of strong emotions makes us feel euphoric, the team is more and more quiet.
To me as to the eyewitness of the majority of the events described above, it would be desirable to emphasize once again that in our regiment from first minutes of war there was no confusion.
Secondly, the action of the active ingredients begins from the first minutes after the start of treatment.
Blood and Soul game shows its uniqueness in the first minutes of game play.
The protagonists of GTPro spent the first minutes at the pit-lane, but when the doors of the track also opened for them, they gave life to duel for Pole category played spasmodically on hundredths of a second.

Alternatives:

early minutes
initial minutes
opening minutes
beginning minutes
commencement minutes

This phrase is correct and is used to specify a short duration of time, typically around two minutes, at the beginning of an event or period.

"first couple of minutes"

This phrase is more specific and implies a brief duration, often used to describe the very beginning of something, such as a game, movie, or meeting.

Examples:

In the first couple of minutes of the game, the team scored two goals.
The first couple of minutes of the movie set the tone for the rest of the film.
She arrived in the first couple of minutes of the meeting.

Show examples from the web [+]

first couple of minutes
Readers are invited to listen to the first couple of minutes - a manual on the different ways a rhythm section can place accents - of Heart Of The Sunrise, the closing track of acclaimed Yes album, Fragile.
But I just want to stop by my theatre first for a couple of minutes.
It was funny for the first couple minutes.
It was funny for the first couple minutes.
Wear it for 10-20 minutes only at the first couple of days, then add 10 minutes every dayWarm Prompt:1.
Lindo raged for a couple of minutes, then took the first ship south.
Learn your first few words of Dari in a couple of minutes.
She was very nervous the first couple of days.
The first couple of reels, Max.
He only does the first couple of bars.
My girlfriends tell me that the first couple of months are the hardest.
Look, the first couple of months with the Intersect are a big adjustment.
I reckon they were dead after the first couple of wounds.
We all muck up our first couple of turkeys.
The first couple of years, yes.
First couple of weeks here, I was still drinking heavily.
Dad's machines work so well the first couple of weeks, then...
First couple of times she bought into it.
You were so sweet those first couple of months.
I guess in the first couple of months, this can happen.

Alternatives:

first few minutes
initial minutes
opening minutes
beginning minutes
commencement minutes

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first minutes vs first couple of minutes

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