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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Referring to time as the sentence of a subject
In one of our recent english tests, there was a question like so:
____ was the first time my father couldn't answer my question.
I answered this empty space with 'that'. My teacher said it was wrong and said the only world for this situation is 'It'. I'm dumbfounded. When I asked him why, he answered "You can only refer to time using 'It' in grammar" . I'm pretty sure his theory is wrong, or misplaced. Would someone mind explaining to me as to why I can't use 'That' in the space? Or if I can, to have it validated so I can show my teacher at school.
Thanks for your time.
____ was the first time my father couldn't answer my question.
I answered this empty space with 'that'. My teacher said it was wrong and said the only world for this situation is 'It'. I'm dumbfounded. When I asked him why, he answered "You can only refer to time using 'It' in grammar" . I'm pretty sure his theory is wrong, or misplaced. Would someone mind explaining to me as to why I can't use 'That' in the space? Or if I can, to have it validated so I can show my teacher at school.
Thanks for your time.
Top answer
Hi Anon There is nothing wrong with saying " that was the first time" -- particularly if in the broader context you go on to describe another time the same thing happened. However, it is not restricted to that sort of usage. You cannot use "that" if you have not yet described or referred to the event.
- Hi Anon There is nothing wrong with saying " that was the first time" -- particularly if in the broader context you go on to describe another time the same thing happened.
- However, it is not restricted to that sort of usage.
- You cannot use "that" if you have not yet described or referred to the event.
- " It was the first time" is probably used more often, but using "that" rather than "it" would certainly not be uncommon.
- I'd say the main difference would be this: Unlike using "that was the first time", you could theoretically use "it was the first time" before you actually describe the event.
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1 Answers
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Hi Anon
There is nothing wrong with saying "that was the first time" -- particularly if in the broader context you go on to describe another time the same thing happened. However, it is not restricted to that sort of usage. You cannot use "that" if you have not yet described or referred to the event.
"It was the first time" is probably used more often, but using "t
There is nothing wrong with saying "that was the first time" -- particularly if in the broader context you go on to describe another time the same thing happened. However, it is not restricted to that sort of usage. You cannot use "that" if you have not yet described or referred to the event.
"It was the first time" is probably used more often, but using "t
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