First time

Question

This is the first time I've ever smoked in the house.How is this sentence correct when first time is a specific time?  I thought present perfect tenses can't be used with a specific time frame.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Because he may smoke more times in the house.

Pleasehelp · Answer

pleasehelpThis is the first time I've ever smoked in the house.

How is this sentence correct when first time is a specific time? I thought present perfect tenses can't be used with a specific time frame.

Can someone else explain to me why this sentence is accurately constructed?

Avangi · Answer

It is sort of interesting.

This is the first time I have smoked.

This is the first time I will go to church.

In both sentences, the two clauses have different finite tenses. What is the function of the second clauses?

I don't think your rule applies here, because the clause "I have smoked" does not refer to a specific time frame. I suspect the rule holds only within the clause.

Perhaps transformational analysis was invented for situations like this.

How about, "I have smoked only once." Is this a specific time frame? I don't think so.

(Where's Jim?)

MichalS · Answer

Besides, the notion of 'specific' is very subjective and intangible, thus it cannot be clearly defined.

This is why you can have both:

I saw Jim recently. ("recently" here is understood as a specific point in the past like yesterday, etc... [for example it could be said by someone who doesn't quite remember the exact date of the meeting])

I have seen Jim recently. (here the reference of "recently" is more elsusive and it doesn't really matter whether it was 2 weeks ago or yesterday - the meeting itself is stressed instead)

As you see, one word can sometimes be more and sometimes less 'specific'.

First time

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