---
title: 'PostgreSQL POSITION() Function'
page_title: 'PostgresQL POSITION: Locate a Substring in a String'
page_description: 'This tutorial shows you how to use the PostgreSQL POSITION() function to locate a substring in a string.'
prev_url: 'https://www.postgresqltutorial.com/postgresql-string-functions/postgresql-position/'
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updatedOn: '2024-04-19T08:26:26+00:00'
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  title: 'PostgreSQL INITCAP() Function'
  slug: 'postgresql-string-functions/postgresql-letter-case-functions'
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  title: 'PostgreSQL SUBSTRING() Function'
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---

The PostgreSQL `POSITION()` function returns the location of the first instance of a substring within a string.

## Syntax

The following illustrates the syntax of the `POSITION()` function:

```sql
POSITION(substring in string)
```

## Arguments

The `POSITION()` function requires two arguments:

**1\) `substring`**

The substring argument is the string that you want to locate.

**2\) `string`**

The `string` argument is the string for which the substring is searched.

## Return Value

The `POSITION()` function returns an [integer](../postgresql-tutorial/postgresql-integer) representing the location of the first instance of the substring within the input string.

The `POSITION()` function returns zero (0\) if the substring is not found in the string. It returns NULL if either `substring` or `string` argument is null.

## Examples

The following example returns the position of the `'Tutorial'` in the string `'PostgreSQL Tutorial'`:

```
SELECT POSITION('Tutorial' IN 'PostgreSQL Tutorial');
```

The result is as follows:

```sql
position
----------
       12
(1 row)
```

Note that the `POSITION()` function searches for the substring case\-insensitively.

See the following example:

```
SELECT POSITION('tutorial' IN 'PostgreSQL Tutorial');
```

It returns zero (0\), indicating that the string `tutorial` does not exist in the string `'PostgreSQL Tutorial'`.

The following example uses the `POSITION()` function to locate the first string `'fateful'` in the `description` column of the `film` table from the [sample database](../postgresql-getting-started/postgresql-sample-database):

```sql
SELECT
  POSITION('Fateful' in description ),
  description
FROM
  film
WHERE
  POSITION('Fateful' in description ) > 0;
```

Output:

```text
 position |                                                   description
----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        3 | A Fateful Reflection of a Moose And a Husband who must Overcome a Monkey in Nigeria
        3 | A Fateful Yarn of a Lumberjack And a Feminist who must Conquer a Student in A Jet Boat
        3 | A Fateful Yarn of a Womanizer And a Feminist who must Succumb a Database Administrator in Ancient India
        3 | A Fateful Display of a Womanizer And a Mad Scientist who must Outgun a A Shark in Soviet Georgia
...
```

## Remarks

The `POSITION()` function returns the location of the first instance of the substring in the string.

For example:

```
SELECT POSITION('is' IN 'This is a cat');
```

Output:

```
 position
----------
        3
(1 row)
```

Even though the substring `'is'` appears twice in the string `'This is a cat'`, the `POSITION()` function returns the first match.

## Summary

- Use the `POSITION()` function to locate the first instance of a substring within a string.