Timeline for Does "this is the first time I have eaten sushi" mean I have finished eating or I'm still eating sushis?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
19 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jun 20, 2023 at 5:35 | comment | added | Yves Lefol | in french it would be "j'ai déjà gagné le premier match que j'ai joué " jamais does not work in this sentence like already in english. But I have seen "already" with past simple in many texts and sentences | |
| Jun 19, 2023 at 23:23 | comment | added | Janus Bahs Jacquet | Yes, already does have that meaning – it just doesn’t make sense here; I wouldn’t have thought it would really work in French either (« … et j’ai déjà gagné le premier match que j’ai jamais joué » sounds strange to me in French as well, but I’m not a native French speaker, so perhaps it’s not really?). In English, already describes the great surprise of the situation, but the surprise is that it happened so soon – and when something cannot possibly happen either sooner or later than it did, you can’t really be surprised at when it happened. | |
| Jun 19, 2023 at 20:58 | comment | added | Yves Lefol | I did not choose the right word but what I wanted to show was the unbelievable situation. I began to play tennis with a victory. It was quite a miracle! that is what I wanted to show and in french (i'm french) already "déjà" can have this meaning so I thought it was the same in English | |
| Jun 19, 2023 at 19:40 | comment | added | Janus Bahs Jacquet | So let’s just get rid of always altogether, because that’s the real problem. “This is the first time I’ve played tennis, and I(’ve) won the first match I(’ve) played” works well whether you use the simple past or the present perfect. If you use the same tense for win and play (past + past // perfect + perfect), it’s fine. Mixing the verbs (past + perfect or perfect + past) feels a bit odd (especially past + perfect), so I’d just stick to the same form in both verbs. | |
| Jun 19, 2023 at 19:34 | comment | added | Janus Bahs Jacquet | @user5577 On further reflection, it’s not actually the verb form itself that makes the already awkward, but rather the notion of winning the first match you ever play. It doesn’t make sense to modify that by already, because it can only ever happen once (when you play your first match). You can’t do it earlier or later than would be expected, so ‘already’ doesn’t make sense. Consider the opposite: “I’ve played tennis for three years, but I still haven’t won the first match I ever played” – if you haven’t done it yet, you never will, because it’s in the past already. | |
| Jun 19, 2023 at 16:49 | comment | added | Yves Lefol | so why already needs a perfect construction in that sentence I saw "already" with past simple | |
| Jun 19, 2023 at 16:38 | comment | added | Yves Lefol | yes this sentence "This is the first time I 've played tennis and I already won the first match I played"would be said while I am still playing tennis but after the first match was finished and before beginning the second match so the first match would be in the past (first match played =first match won ) | |
| Jun 19, 2023 at 15:16 | comment | added | Barmar | @Fishbane While your response would be OK, I think most would use the future tense until they've eaten something: "I don't know, since this will be my first time eating sushi." OTOH, "This is my first time eating sushi, what should I order?" sounds normal. | |
| Jun 19, 2023 at 15:02 | comment | added | Luke Sawczak | You can also say this as you walk away from the restaurant. | |
| Jun 19, 2023 at 14:57 | comment | added | Janus Bahs Jacquet | @wjandrea You’re right, I paraphrased in my head without even noticing. I would then say the sentence given does not work: already here all but requires a perfect construction. The following both work, but mean different things: “This is the first time I’ve played tennis, and I won the first match I played!” (first match played = first match won) — “This is the first time I’ve played tennis, and I’ve already won my first match!” (first match played not necessarily first match won). The first still feels a bit odd; more natural would be, “This was my first tennis match ever, and I won!”. | |
| Jun 19, 2023 at 14:43 | comment | added | wjandrea | @Janus It's worth pointing out that that doesn't mean the same thing: "I’ve already won my first match" means you've won one match so far, not necessarily "the first match I played". But the "already" in the original sentence is ambiguous; I interpreted it as a connection of two thoughts, like "I've already won a match -- the first one I ever played". | |
| Jun 19, 2023 at 14:29 | comment | added | wjandrea | @user5577 Yes, that's correct. You would use that while you're still playing tennis, but after the first match you had ever played (which you won). Two typos though: "This is the first time I've ..." | |
| Jun 19, 2023 at 9:32 | history | edited | user81561 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jun 19, 2023 at 8:22 | comment | added | Janus Bahs Jacquet | @user5577 Almost. The past tense in the second clause is not quite right – the present perfect would be more natural: “This is the first time I’ve played tennis, and I’ve already won my first match!” is perfectly correct and natural. This would be used if you’re speaking between matches or just after you finished playing. (Note that winning a match is inherently different from liking something – liking is a stative verb, so we rarely use the perfective aspect, except to describe how long it has lasted. So don’t say “… and I’ve liked it”.) | |
| Jun 19, 2023 at 8:22 | comment | added | MikeB | @Fishbane I was going to say the same thing. I think my dividing line would be "the point at which the action (eating sushi in this case) become inevitable." | |
| Jun 19, 2023 at 3:15 | comment | added | aroth | "you have eaten as soon as one piece of food enters your mouth and you have bit it" - Not sure about the latter requirement. If I swallow some food whole without biting or chewing it, I've still eaten, haven't I? Swallowing seems like the relevant criteria. If you put food in your mouth and then spit it out, you haven't eaten anything. Once you swallow, you have. Whether or not you bite or chew. | |
| Jun 18, 2023 at 23:16 | comment | added | Fishbane | It seems that it would be possible to use the sentence even slightly before ever having eaten sushi. For example consider having ordered sushi at a restaurant and then being asked what you think about sushi before actually receiving it. It feels to me that "This is the first time I have eaten sushi" would be a perfectly normal response. I think it would be quite hard to draw an exact dividing line between when it feels normal to say it and when it feels incorrect. | |
| Jun 18, 2023 at 18:20 | comment | added | barbecue | This answer makes the important point that the word "This" references a specific experience or event. Before sitting down to eat, one may "This will be the first time I have eaten sushi" or "This will be my first time eating sushi", referring to the expected future. Also, even when you've finished the meal, "This is the first time I've eaten sushi" still makes sense for a short time afterwards. A group of people walking out of the restaurant together, chatting about the meal is an extension of the activity. Later, or the next day, you'd say "That was the first time I ate sushi" instead. | |
| Jun 18, 2023 at 16:21 | history | answered | user81561 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |