Initially example sentences
Related (14): first, beginning, start, originally, initially, outset, onset, preliminary, early, primary, initial, ultimately, eventually, finally
"Initially" Example Sentences
Common Phrases
- initially thought
- initially seemed
- initially planned
- initially refused
- initially believed
- at first / initially
- initially considered
- initially appeared
- initially wanted
- initially struggled
- initially reacted
- initially proposed
Examples by Level
A1
- I was initially scared of the dog, but now I like it.
- She initially said no, then she changed her mind.
- The plan initially seemed good to everyone.
A2
- He initially wanted to stay home, but his friends convinced him to go out.
- The weather looked bad initially, so we almost didn't go to the beach.
- I initially thought the movie was boring, but it got really good halfway through.
B1
- The project seemed straightforward initially, but we ran into problems nobody expected.
- She was initially hesitant about moving abroad, though looking back, it was the best decision she ever made.
- They initially dismissed his idea as unrealistic — now it's their biggest revenue stream.
B2
- What initially felt like a setback turned out to be the push she needed to leave a job that was slowly killing her.
- The proposal was initially rejected by the board, but the revised version passed almost unanimously.
- He'd been initially drawn to her confidence, only to realize later that it masked something much more fragile.
C1
- The novel's protagonist, initially presented as sympathetic, gradually reveals himself to be complicit in the very systems he claims to oppose.
- What the government initially framed as a temporary measure has calcified into permanent policy, reshaping the entire landscape of civic participation.
- The tension between artistic integrity and commercial viability, initially dismissed as a false dichotomy, proved to be the central conflict of her career.
C2
- The initially modest collection of letters, discovered in an attic decades after the author's death, would eventually rewrite the entire literary canon of the period.
- What struck him most was not the revelation itself, but the realization that he had initially known the truth all along — and had simply chosen not to see it.
- The crisis, initially perceived as catastrophic, created the conditions for a kind of reckoning that, in retrospect, the society had desperately needed.
Examples by Scenario
🏠 Everyday Life
- I was initially annoyed when my neighbor knocked on the door at 7 AM, but then I realized my car was blocking his driveway.
- The coffee shop initially looked closed, so I almost walked past it — good thing I checked the door.
- My kid initially refused to eat the vegetables, but once I called them 'dinosaur trees' she ate the whole plate.
💼 Workplace
- The new software seemed clunky initially, but after a week everyone admitted it actually saved us hours every day.
- My boss was initially skeptical about remote work, then the pandemic happened and she never asked us to come back.
- The intern's presentation was initially rough around the edges, but the core idea was solid enough that we decided to run with it.
📊 Business
- The product initially underperformed in focus groups, so we pivoted the messaging and saw a 40% lift in purchase intent.
- Our competitor's strategy initially looked aggressive, but we realized they were just desperate — their margins were collapsing.
- The market initially rejected the premium pricing, but once we repositioned it as artisanal rather than luxury, sales doubled.
🛒 Buying / Shopping
- I was initially put off by the price tag, but then I read the reviews and figured it was worth the investment.
- The store initially didn't have my size, so the clerk offered to order it — which actually arrived faster than expected.
- I initially grabbed the cheaper version, then put it back and got the better one because I knew I'd regret it otherwise.
✈️ Travel
- The hotel initially seemed sketchy from the photos, but it was actually charming and way better than the fancy place down the street.
- We were initially worried about flying during the storm, but the pilot said it was fine and honestly the turbulence was barely noticeable.
- The tour guide initially spoke so fast I couldn't understand anything, but by day three my ear had adjusted and it was fascinating.
📚 Education
- The student was initially resistant to the assignment, but once she understood the purpose, she became genuinely interested in the research.
- The teacher initially explained the concept one way, and everyone looked confused, so she tried a different approach and suddenly it clicked.
- I was initially worried about failing the exam, but the study group sessions made me realize I actually understood the material better than I thought.
❤️ Relationships
- I was initially hurt when he didn't text back, then I realized he was just dealing with his own stuff and it had nothing to do with me.
- She seemed cold initially when we first met, but that was just her defense mechanism — underneath she's one of the warmest people I know.
- We were initially excited about moving in together, but the reality of sharing a bathroom with someone turned out to be way harder than we expected.
📰 News / Politics
- The scandal initially dominated the headlines, but within a week the news cycle had moved on to something else entirely.
- The policy was initially popular with voters, though economists warned it would create long-term problems.
- The candidate initially denied the allegations, but new evidence emerged that forced a complete reversal of her position.
💻 Technology
- The app initially crashed constantly, but after the latest update it's actually pretty stable and kind of useful.
- I was initially skeptical about AI writing tools, but I've started using one for brainstorming and it's weirdly helpful.
- The new phone interface initially felt confusing, but once you get used to it, it's actually more intuitive than the old design.
📝 Formal Writing
- The study initially hypothesized that the correlation was causal; however, subsequent analysis revealed multiple confounding variables.
- The proposal was initially submitted in March; revisions were requested and a final version was approved in June.
- The initially proposed budget of $2.5 million was subsequently reduced to $1.8 million following departmental review.