Vertically align text next to (not in) a table

Question

There are plenty of questions about vertically aligning text within a table. I wan't to make text to the left of a table vertically aligned to the top:
I want this text aligned to top:
begin{tabular}{lll} 
     1. & First step &
     2. & Second step &
     3. & Go back & Step 1\
     hline
     4. & Can't get here & Error.
end{tabular}

This is what the above LaTeX looks like:

Is there a way to make the "I want this text aligned to top" be aligned to the top instead of the vertical center of the table?

Zarko · Accepted Answer

You need to add option [t] to tabular for its position:
documentclass{article}

begin{document}
I want this text aligned to top:
begin{tabular}[t]{lll} % <--- observe `t`
     1. & First step &
     2. & Second step &
     3. & Go back & Step 1\
     hline
     4. & Can't get here & Error.
end{tabular}
end{document}

js bibra · Answer

simplicity as our elite member Zarko said

begin{tabular}[]{lll} 
    I want this text aligned to top:&   1. & First step 
                                    &   2. & Second step 
                                    &   3. & Go back Step 1
                            cline{2-3}
                                    &   4. & Can't get here Error.
    end{tabular}

F. Pantigny · Answer

As said by Zarko, the solution to that question is to use the key t of the environment {tabular} but, for information, I add this answer to show that with {NiceTabular} of nicematrix, there is also a key baseline to choice the row of the alignment.
documentclass{article}

usepackage{nicematrix}

begin{document}
I want this text aligned to the second row:
begin{NiceTabular}{lll}[baseline=2]
     1. & First step &
     2. & Second step &
     3. & Go back & Step 1\
     hline
     4. & Can't get here & Error.
end{NiceTabular}
end{document}

You need several compilations because nicematrix uses PGF/Tikz.

Vertically align text next to (not in) a table

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