diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 4419d4d7f67e9..744c302b85d5f 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -236,8 +236,12 @@ This section lists changes that do not have deprecation warnings.
 Library improvements
 --------------------
 
+  * Functions `first` and `last` now accept `nchar` argument for `AbstractString`.
+    If this argument is used they return a string consisting of first/last `nchar`
+    characters from the original string ([#23960]).
+
   * The functions `nextind` and `prevind` now accept `nchar` argument that indicates
-    number of characters to move ([#23805]).
+    the number of characters to move ([#23805]).
 
   * The functions `strip`, `lstrip` and `rstrip` now return `SubString` ([#22496]).
 
diff --git a/base/strings/basic.jl b/base/strings/basic.jl
index c6c572882ce66..52c1a32c1eee9 100644
--- a/base/strings/basic.jl
+++ b/base/strings/basic.jl
@@ -610,3 +610,52 @@ function filter(f, s::AbstractString)
     end
     String(take!(out))
 end
+
+## string first and last ##
+
+"""
+    first(str::AbstractString, nchar::Integer)
+
+Get a string consisting of the first `nchar` characters of `str`.
+
+```jldoctest
+julia> first("∀ϵ≠0: ϵ²>0", 0)
+""
+
+julia> first("∀ϵ≠0: ϵ²>0", 1)
+"∀"
+
+julia> first("∀ϵ≠0: ϵ²>0", 3)
+"∀ϵ≠"
+```
+"""
+function first(str::AbstractString, nchar::Integer)
+    if 0 <= nchar <= 1
+        return str[1:nchar]
+    end
+    str[1:nextind(str, 1, nchar-1)]
+end
+
+"""
+    last(str::AbstractString, nchar::Integer)
+
+Get a string consisting of the last `nchar` characters of `str`.
+
+```jldoctest
+julia> last("∀ϵ≠0: ϵ²>0", 0)
+""
+
+julia> last("∀ϵ≠0: ϵ²>0", 1)
+"0"
+
+julia> last("∀ϵ≠0: ϵ²>0", 3)
+"²>0"
+```
+"""
+function last(str::AbstractString, nchar::Integer)
+    e = endof(str)
+    if 0 <= nchar <= 1
+        return str[(e-nchar+1):e]
+    end
+    str[prevind(str, e, nchar-1):e]
+end
diff --git a/doc/src/stdlib/strings.md b/doc/src/stdlib/strings.md
index 003b9b1b92b6d..2d00e04bbe39b 100644
--- a/doc/src/stdlib/strings.md
+++ b/doc/src/stdlib/strings.md
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ Base.lstrip
 Base.rstrip
 Base.startswith
 Base.endswith
+Base.first(::AbstractString, ::Integer)
+Base.last(::AbstractString, ::Integer)
 Base.uppercase
 Base.lowercase
 Base.titlecase
diff --git a/test/strings/basic.jl b/test/strings/basic.jl
index 2da583f9474b5..33719b3507384 100644
--- a/test/strings/basic.jl
+++ b/test/strings/basic.jl
@@ -623,3 +623,23 @@ end
         @test prevind(strs[2], -1, 1) == 0
     end
 end
+
+@testset "first and last" begin
+    s = "∀ϵ≠0: ϵ²>0"
+    @test_throws ArgumentError first(s, -1)
+    @test first(s, 0) == ""
+    @test first(s, 1) == "∀"
+    @test first(s, 2) == "∀ϵ"
+    @test first(s, 3) == "∀ϵ≠"
+    @test first(s, 4) == "∀ϵ≠0"
+    @test first(s, length(s)) == s
+    @test_throws BoundsError first(s, length(s)+1)
+    @test_throws ArgumentError last(s, -1)
+    @test last(s, 0) == ""
+    @test last(s, 1) == "0"
+    @test last(s, 2) == ">0"
+    @test last(s, 3) == "²>0"
+    @test last(s, 4) == "ϵ²>0"
+    @test last(s, length(s)) == s
+    @test_throws BoundsError last(s, length(s)+1)
+end