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Tamguatlay Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

1. This is the first time I have attended such a pilgrimage. .

If the person hasn't left for the pilgrimage, which sentence should I use?

1. This is the first time I have attended such a pilgrimage.
.
2. This is the first time I will be attending such a pilgrimage.

If neither, how would I phrase it?

Thanks.
  

Top answer

tamguatlay If the person hasn't left for the pilgrimage, which sentence should I use? I'd say "will be attending" is appropriate in that context, because If you say 'have attended' , this will mean the action has already taken place / occurred (before the time of speaking of it). tamguatlay how would I phrase it?

— Laborious

  • tamguatlay If the person hasn't left for the pilgrimage, which sentence should I use?
  • I'd say "will be attending" is appropriate in that context, because If you say 'have attended' , this will mean the action has already taken place / occurred (before the time of speaking of it).
  • tamguatlay how would I phrase it?
  • I think I'd phrase it as: This will be the first time I will be attending such a pilgrimage.
  • )
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7 Answers
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tamguatlayIf the person hasn't left for the pilgrimage, which sentence should I use?
I'd say "will be attending" is appropriate in that context, because If you say 'have attended', this will mean the action has already taken place / occurred (before the time of speaking of it).
tamguatlayhow would I phrase it?
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tamguatlay1. This is the first time I have attended such a pilgrimage.
I also feel that when we say "This is the first time I have attended such a pilgrimage", the person may still be at the pilgrimage.

For example, If somebody says "This is the first time I've attended such a party", the person speaking may
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Hi Laborious

I think the last sentence should be: This was the first time I had attended such a party.
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tamguatlayI think the last sentence should be: This was the first time I had attended such a party.
I don't see any need to use 'past perfect' there. Past perfect is used to talk about something that happened previously to something else in the past. When you say "This was the first time I attended such a party", you're no lo
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In that we use the present perfect, not a present simple/progressive, for a present-time occurrence, It is natural to use a past perfect for a past-time occurrence;

This is the first time I have done this.
That was the first time I had done that.
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In order to avoid this problem, you can always keep the second part tenseless and say: This was my first time attending such a party.

Also, I think we would more naturally say "go on a pilgrimage," or simply "be on a pilgrimage":

This is the first time I have been on such a pilgrimage.
This was the first time I had be
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Do you mean to say that saying "This / that was the first time I had done (something)" would be more natural than saying "This / that was the first time I did (something)"? It isn't wrong / unidiomatic to say "This / that was the first time I (past simple)", is it?

Thank you.
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