pʊt ðə kɑːrt bɪˈfɔːr ðə hɔːrs
Travel
neutral
intermediate
- Literally:
- to place the wheeled cart in front of the horse
What does "put the cart before the horse" mean?
to do things in the wrong order
Examples
- Buying furniture before you've found an apartment is putting the cart before the horse.
- Let's not put the cart before the horse — we need funding before we hire.
- They put the cart before the horse by advertising before the product was developed.
Origin
One of the oldest English idioms, dating back to the 16th century.
How to use it
Used to caution against doing things in the wrong sequence.
Similar expressions
get ahead of oneself
jump the gun
Opposites
take it step by step
first things first
Related idioms
- hit the road
To leave or depart on a journey
- in the same boat
In the same difficult situation as someone else
- miss the boat
To miss an opportunity
- go the extra mile
to make more effort than is expected or required
- a long way to go
much more work or progress is needed before completion
- that ship has sailed
The opportunity has passed
Use it in a practice answer
Try "put the cart before the horse" in a CELPIP-style Speaking or Writing task. The AI feedback tells you whether your word choice worked.