# Left
<a name="left-function"></a>

`left` returns the leftmost characters from a string, including spaces. You specify the number of characters to be returned. 

## Syntax
<a name="left-function-syntax"></a>

```
left(expression, limit)
```

## Arguments
<a name="left-function-arguments"></a>

 *expression*   
The expression must be a string. It can be the name of a field that uses the string data type, a literal value like **'12 Main Street'**, or a call to another function that outputs a string.

 *limit*   
The number of characters to be returned from *expression*, starting from the first character in the string.

## Return type
<a name="left-function-return-type"></a>

String

## Example
<a name="left-function-example"></a>

The following example returns the first 3 characters from a string.

```
left('Seattle Store #14', 3)
```

The following value is returned.

```
Sea
```