When Eva was first diagnosed with diabetes she was twenty.
When Eva was firstly diagnosed with diabetes she was twenty.
Which one is grammatically correct to say and as I know both first and firstly we can use as an adverb.
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2Related: 1 First, Second, Third, and Finally and 2 First, … Secondly, … &c Worth reading Sven Yarg's exhaustive answer. – Mari-Lou A Jul 09 '16 at 10:36
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also related: 3 How is the predicate of the verb 'to diagnose' formed? and 4 Is the correct usage of “Diagnose (verb)” losing its ground? – Mari-Lou A Jul 09 '16 at 10:45
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So who's to say which sentence is grammatically correct? But push comes to shove, I would opt for the first one. – Mari-Lou A Jul 09 '16 at 10:47
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Generally, "firstly" is only used when one wishes to be a bit ostentatious. – Hot Licks Jul 09 '16 at 11:26
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Both appear to be correct as adverb form of firstly appears to be a synonym of adverb form of first. https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/firstly
However, I saw only first being used the way you used it. The second form using firstly looks clumsy to me but it may just be that I am not used to it.
I only saw firstly used in the sense of "in the first place".
If you have no specific reason to prefer firstly, perhaps you should prefer using first to avoid any confusion.
alwayslearning
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