For the first time is different from This is the first time?

Question

Hello all!I was watching Charlie Sheen Speaks Out about HIV and one sentence surprised me a bit. The sentence comes from one of his fan:For the first time you can be proud of yourself. In my opinion there should be : For the first time you have been able to be proud of yourself.Why do I think that it should be written  differently? The second construction from the thread title works only with present perfect - according to Swan and my teacher at school. I will give you an example:  This is the first time I have driven a car NOT This is the first time I drive /I am driving a car.On the other hand I see that native speakers often say the version with present simple /continuous more often that the correct one. Does my original sentence with "for the first time" fall into the same or similar category?Thank you very much!Dominik

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Dominik6For the first time (in your life) you can be proud of yourself.

Perfectly natural.

Fivejedjon · Answer

Any tense can be used with 'for the first time'  Swan was writing about 'This is the first time ...'

Dominik6 · Answer

fivejedjonAny tense can be used with 'for the first time' Swan was writing about 'This is the first time ...'

So Thank you very much for your quick answers!

So it's perfectly ok to say : I am driving a car for the first time, I have met him for the first time, That's for the first time I have been waiting for him for more than 20 minutes...

Are all my sentences above possible? I assume it is not usual to use present simple with "for the first time" structure, is it?

Btw: I might well be wrong but do I get it right that the same work for the past? Swan tells his students that they should use this structure: It was the first time I had done it.......considering everything you have told me here I would say that it is not necessary to use past perfect with "for the first time" in the past as well as in the present.

CalifJim · Answer

Dominik6I assume it is not usual to use present simple with "for the first time" structure, is it?

Maybe not usual, but not impossible. I go to many different countries as part of my job. I go to China for the first time next week.

CJ

CalifJim · Answer

Dominik6I am driving a car for the first time (today).

It's fine.

Dominik6I have met him for the first time.

Possible when a series of meetings is scheduled, though I'd say I've met him once (so far).

Dominik6That's for the first time I have been waiting for him for more than 20 minutes.

Now this one is not good. "That's for the first time" doesn't work. This should be

[That's / That was] the first time I've had to wait for him more than 20 minutes.

Possibly, [That's / That was] the first time I've waited for him more than 20 minutes.

"first time" indicates an event, not an activity, so the continuous tense (have been waiting) is not appropriate.

CJ

Dominik6 · Answer

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CalifJim"first time" indicates an event, not an activity, so the continuous tense (have been waiting) is not appropriate.

It works with continuous tense (I am driving a car for the first time) but it doesn't with present perfect continuous. To be honest it is quite mystery for me. Can't understand why it is possible that it perfectly works with present continuous tense but not with the present perfect cont.

CalifJimPossible when a series of meetings is scheduled, though I'd say I've met him once (so far).

Could I say : I have driven a car for the first time - even though it is not something scheduled?

For me as a non native speaker this is a bit confusing. I mean the difference between " This is the first time..." and "For the first time...". They both sound very similar to one another however there are more strict rules for "This is the first time..."

The thing which confuses me is when it comes to these two sentences:

1) This is the first time I have done it....
2) This is for the first time I have done it...

Do both sentences work according to rules for "This is the first time..." (where Swan uses present perfect) even though the second sentence uses "for"?

Thank you!

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Dominik61) This is the first time I have done it...

That's good.

Dominik62) This is for the first time I have done it...

Not good.

"For the first time" does not refer to a present moment experience, but looking back from the present moment:
He completed the marathon for the first time in 2001.
For the first time, I felt as though I were in love.
For the first time, I can be proud of you. (Looking back at all the past time when you disappointed me.)

"The first time" refers to a "present moment experience" described in the narrative. The speaker imagines himself in that past event.
The first time I went on a roller coaster, I got sick.
I remember 2001. That was the first time I completed a marathon.
This is the first time I can be proud of you. (A feeling at the present moment.)

Dominik6 · Answer

AlpheccaStarsThe first time I went on a roller coaster, I got sick.I remember 2001. That was the first time I completed a marathon.This is the first time I can be proud of you. (A feeling at the present moment.)

Please don't take at as a criticism or so but as a non native speaker who is safer to follow all the rules out there, I am used to using present perfect / past perfect after the "This is /was the first time I have done it/I had done it"

However you didn't use perfect tenses in your last two sentences. Many native speakers don't. However Swan' s advice is that I should use perfect tenses in these examples:

- It was the first time I had completed a marathon and This is the first time I have been able to be proud of you.

AlpheccaStarsThe first time I went on a roller coaster, I got sick.

Here the problem is that I am not sure whether I can apply Swan' s rule as well - or whether "The first time" is closer to "for the first tiime" rather than "This is the first time + perfect tenses follows"

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Dominik6I am used to using present perfect / past perfect after the "This is /was the first time I have done it/I had done it"

When the main verb is past, you can use the simple past or past perfect with confidence.
This was the first time I did / had done it.

When the main verb is present, use the present perfect.
This is the first time I have done it.

Fivejedjon · Answer

Don't confuse different structures:

1a. This is the first time I have eaten goat.
1b. That was the first time I had eaten goat.

2. The first time I ate goat was in 2004, when I was working in Oman.

3a. I am eating goat today for the first time.
3b. I ate goat for the first time in 2004, when I was working in Oman.

For the first time is different from This is the first time?

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