:first-child Selector


first-child selector

Description: Selects all elements that are the first child of their parent.

  • version added: 1.1.4jQuery( ":first-child" )

While .first() matches only a single element, the :first-child selector can match more than one: one for each parent. This is equivalent to :nth-child(1).

Example:

Finds the first span in each matched div to underline and add a hover state.

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<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>first-child demo</title>
<style>
span {
color: #008;
}
span.sogreen {
color: green;
font-weight: bolder;
}
</style>
<script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.7.0.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<div>
<span>John,</span>
<span>Karl,</span>
<span>Brandon</span>
</div>
<div>
<span>Glen,</span>
<span>Tane,</span>
<span>Ralph</span>
</div>
<script>
$( "div span:first-child" )
.css( "text-decoration", "underline" )
.hover(function() {
$( this ).addClass( "sogreen" );
}, function() {
$( this ).removeClass( "sogreen" );
});
</script>
</body>
</html>

Demo: