grammar check

Question

"The UK will be the theme country of the 39th Calcutta Book Fair beginning January 28. After 1998, this will be the second time the UK will be the theme country of the annual event."

The above lines are from a news article. Would it not be 'first time' instead of 'second time' in the second sentence?

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

sumon duttaWould it not be 'first time' instead of 'second time' in the second sentence?

Probably not, but the fault lies partly in the construction

The UK will be the theme country for the 39th Calcutta Book Fair beginning January 28. This will be the second time since 1998 that the UK will be the theme country of the annual event.

CalifJim · Answer

sumon duttaWould it not be 'first time' instead of 'second time' in the second sentence?

It depends on the facts of the situation. Is it, in fact, the first time or the second time after 1998?

The sentence is not very idiomatic. It's possible that this was intended:

This will be the [first / second] time since 1998 that the UK will be the theme country of the annual event.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Considering the fact that the UK was the theme country for the first time in 1998 and 2014 will be the only time since then, will it be 'first' or 'second' in the original sentence? Also I would be interested to know why you are avoiding 'after' and using 'since' instead.

Mister Micawber · Answer

sumon duttawill it be 'first' or 'second' in the original sentence

The original sentence is faulty; 'after' is wrong grammar there. It is 'first' in both CJ's and my sentences.

CalifJim · Answer

Original sentences:

The UK will be the theme country of the 39th Calcutta Book Fair beginning January 28. After 1998, this will be the second time the UK will be the theme country of the annual event.

sumon duttaConsidering the fact that the UK was the theme country for the first time in 1998 and 2014 will be the only time since then

This is your fact. If, indeed, it is a fact, it is only a fact because you say it's a fact. There is nothing in the original sentences that makes such a claim.

We have to guess that the January 28 mentioned in the sentence is the January 28 of 2014. Nothing in the original says this. There is no mention of "2014" in those sentences. You could be quoting something written in 2005 for all I know.
We have to guess that the UK was the theme country in 1998. Nothing in the original says this.
We have to guess how many times the UK was the theme country after 1998. Nothing in the original says this.

Given that there is so little information in the given sentences, it is impossible to say whether "first" or "second" is correct.
________________

However, if you want to ignore the original sentences, and go by your own information, namely that it's January 28, 2014, that the UK was the theme country in 1998, and that the UK was never the theme country between 1998 and 2014, then:

The UK will be the theme country of the 39th Calcutta Book Fair beginning January 28. This will be the first time the UK will be the theme country of the annual event since (it was the theme country in) 1998.

sumon duttaI would be interested to know why you are avoiding 'after' and using 'since' instead.

It is much more idiomatic to use "since" instead of "after" in these contexts.
"since" fixes 1998 as a year that the UK was the theme country.
"after" doesn't do this. You can say, This will be the first time after 1998, This will be the first time after 2001, This will be the first time after 2010, This will be the second time after 1997, This will be the second time after 1965, This will be the second time after 1752, whatever you want. It isn't a very precise way of expressing the idea.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you . It's clear now.

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you very much. This is exactly what I wanted to understand . I should have mentioned at the very beginning what I stated to be 'the fact' . Apologies.

Henry74 · Answer

sumon duttaAfter 1998, this will be the second time the UK will be the theme country of the annual event.

Sorry for my late post. Can I ask something about this?
Since the first time was in 1998, shouldn't will be be replaced with has been or will have been?

Thank you.
H.

Mister Micawber · Answer

Henry74Since the first time was in 1998, shouldn't will be be replaced with has been or will have been?

No, the verb form has nothing to do with that past event.

Tomorrow will be the first time since 1998...
Yesterday was the first time since 1998...
Today is the first time since 1998 that...

Henry74 · Answer

Mister MicawberTomorrow will be the first time since 1998...

Yes. That corresponds to the first "will be" in the original sentence. Following the pattern
- It's the first time that I have seen
- It was the first time that I had seen

shouldn't the second "will be" be in the perfect aspect?
Or so I was taught...

H.

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