This is the first time that I....

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Hi,In a translation forum someone wrote "this is the first time I see a pretty girl in this place" (context flirting). It was pointed out it was wrong because you should always use the present perfect with "this is the first time," because it implies the action carries on from the past. I'm not convinced this "rule" applies in all cases, the idea being that in certain situations you can say it if the action is immediate in the present, like in this case when you say it as soon as you see someone. What do you think?Thanks, Al

Philip · Accepted Answer

Anonymous if the action is immediate in the present, like in this case when you say it as soon as you see someone

I don't know what that has to do with the choice of tenses. The present perfect is the only one that sounds right to me here.

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymousyou should always use the present perfect with "this is the first time,"

That sounds reasonable.

This is the first time [I've / you've / he's / ...] (ever) + past participle ...

Anonymousbecause it implies the action carries on from the past.

No. This is the first time, so there was no action in the past that can be carrying on. The rule isn't based on that reasoning.

AnonymousI'm not convinced this "rule" applies in all cases

What is your counterexample? Give us a sentence you found in a reliable print source, for example, where this rule is not followed.

CJ

OttoJ · Answer

CalifJimGive us a sentence you found in a reliable print source, for example, where this rule is not followed.

So you have it.

https://books.google.com.hk/books?id=Q7O81c43axgC&pg=PT614&lpg=PT614&dq=%22THIS+IS+the+first+time+yeats%22&source=bl&ots=z8_3V4OsLr&sig=0sC5TgvWkihYV9SPMVrHpmeFUMI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=s1TsVOzXNcSwmwWq6oCwDQ&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=%22THIS%20IS%20the%20first%20time%20yeats%22&f=false

Does this Irish annotation writer's English sound right?

CalifJim · Answer

OttoJSo you have it.

As a matter of fact, I don't have it. I didn't find anything with "This is the first time" on the page you linked me to. The quote may be buried deep down in a chain of links that starts on this page, but I don't know where.

It would save a lot of time if you just quoted the sentence in addition to providing the link.
___________

I did find some other sentences that may be what you're referring to.

We can't help but notice that this is the first time Yeats is referred to by name in the poem, other than the title.
Significantly, this is the first time Yeats calls himself by his own name in a poem.
This is the first time Yeats mentions dancing on a grave.

In the analysis of texts, "first time" does not actually have to do with time. It means the first place in a text (or in a body of work produced by an author) that a particular turn of phrase or mention of something is found. It has to do with finding things in a text, not recounting the actual experiences of the author.

If you were referring to the author himself, say Yeats, and talking about his experiences in time, then, for one thing, he would still have to be alive (which Yeats is not). Supposing he were still alive, and you knew him and were sitting there with him, and supposing he has just drunk a glass of white wine, something he has never done before, you can say: This is the first time he has drunk white wine. But you cannot say: This is the first time he drinks white wine.

So we have found an exception to the rule. When 'time' actually means the first place in a text which we are analyzing, the present tense is used.

CJ

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