the early bird gets the worm

English

Alternative forms

• the early bird catches the worm

Proverb

the early bird gets the worm

1. Whoever arrives first has the best chance of success; some opportunities are only available to the first competitors.

Related terms

• early to bed, early to rise

Translations

whoever arrives first has the best chance of success

Chinese: Mandarin: 早起的鳥兒有蟲吃 (cmn), 早起的鸟儿有虫吃 (cmn) (zǎoqǐ de niǎor yǒu chóng chī), 先下手為強 (cmn), 先下手为强 (cmn) (xiān xiàshǒu wéi qiáng), 捷足先登 (cmn) (jiézúxiāndēng) Czech: ranní ptáče dál doskáče (cs) Danish: den tidlige fugl fanger ormen (da) Dutch: wie het eerst komt, wie het eerst maalt (nl) Esperanto: unua venis, unua prenis (eo) Finnish: aikainen lintu madon nappaa (fi) French: l'avenir appartient à ceux qui se lèvent tôt (Future is for those who get up early) German: der frühe Vogel fängt den Wurm (the early bird gets the worm), Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund (morning time has gold in its mouth) Hungarian: ki korán kel, aranyat lel (hu) Italian: chi primo arriva meglio alloggia (it) (he who arrives first, stays better), chi dorme non piglia pesci (it) (he who sleeps doesn't catch any fish)

Japanese: 早起きの鳥は虫を捕らえる (ja) (hayaoki-no tori-wa mushi-o toraeru), 早起きは三文の徳 (ja) (hayaoki-wa sanmon-no toku) Macedonian: кој рано рани, две среќи граби (mk) (koj ráno ráni, dve sréḱi grábi) Norwegian: den som kommer først til mølla, får først malt (no), morgenstund har gull i munn (no) Polish: kto rano wstaje, temu Pan Bóg daje Portuguese: deus ajuda quem cedo madruga Russian: кто рано встаёт, тому бог подаёт (ru) (kto ráno vstajót, tomú box podajót) Serbian: ко рано рани две среће граби (sr) (ko rano rani dve sreće grabi), птица раноранилица прва црва нађе (sr) (ptica ranoranilica prva crva nađe) Slovak: komu sa nelení, tomu sa zelení Spanish: a quien madruga, Dios le ayuda Swedish: först till kvarn får först mala (first to the mill get to grind first) Turkish: erken kalkan yol alır (tr), erken kalktım işime, şeker kattım aşıma (tr)