To Begin With (Adverb)
Meaning
Before now; "why didn't you tell me in the first place?".
Examples
- Why did you wait until now to tell me, to begin with?
- To begin with, I would have liked to have known about this problem earlier.
- They should have informed us of the schedule change to begin with.
- If they had told us the truth to begin with, we wouldn't be in this mess now.
- The company should have been more transparent about the fee to begin with.