the first time vs. for the first time

Question

A. I got lost when I came here the first time.

B. I got lost when I came here for the first time.

Which one is correct? Or is there any semantic difference between them?

Answer 1

I guess both are correct, and their meaning is the same, or largely the same. I don't notice any difference.

The first sentence may sound a bit less formal.

Strangely, when I reword the sentence, I feel the need for the preposition:

Coming here for the first time, I got lost.

But maybe here it is also okay to drop the preposition.

From the grammar standpoint, "for the first time" is an adverbial prepositional phrase: it modifies the verb to come as a adverb would do. It serves as an "adverbial complement to the verb came" (in your example sentence).