BeginnerText Functions
Split a full name with LEFT and FIND
Pull the first name out of a single full-name column.
LEFT · FIND
7 min15 points
LEFT
Returns a set number of characters from the start of a text value.
Syntax
LEFT(text, [num_chars])
Text Functions.
Practise LEFT3 interactive exercises, free, no account needed
A worked example
=LEFT(A2,FIND(" ",A2)-1)
Returns Marcus
Takes every character before the first space — the first name.
Where it goes wrong
Hard-coding the character count. =LEFT(A2,6) works for Marcus and turns Dana Whitfield into Dana W.
What the exercises catch
Each of these is a wrong turn the practice exercises recognise and name. They are the misconceptions, not the answers.
- This works for "Marcus Bell" because that name happens to be six letters. Fill it down and "Dana Whitfield" becomes "Dana W". You need to find where the space actually is.Split a full name with LEFT and FIND
- You have taken the comma along with the city, giving "Cleveland," instead of "Cleveland". FIND returns the comma's own position, so you want one character fewer.Split a city away from its state
- You are comparing the whole code against two letters, so nothing ever matches and every row returns an error. The prefix has to be extracted before it can be compared.Turn a product code into a category
- That gives you the prefix — HW — but not the category name. The prefix still needs translating into something readable.Turn a product code into a category
Practise LEFT
Knowing what a function does and being able to write it from memory are different skills. These close the gap.
- IntermediateText Functions
Split a city away from its state
Cut a combined location field at the comma without counting characters by hand.
LEFT · FIND
8 min25 points - IntermediateLogical Functions
Turn a product code into a category
Read a code's prefix and translate it into a readable category name.
IFS · LEFT
9 min30 points