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What are the differences between:

  1. I did this for the first time in Tibet.

  2. I did this in Tibet for the first time.

Which one should I use if I have done 'this' before, but it is my first time doing 'this' in Tibet?

Which one should I use if I have never done 'this' before, and it is my very first time doing it and I am doing it in Tibet?

fev
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Guri
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    The *position* of adverbs is quite flexible in English. So is the *sequence, if you've got multiple adverbial elements in the same sentence ("in Tibet" and "for the first time" in your example). They can also come before* the relevant "tensed" verb element, as in *In Tibet, I did this for the first time*. It's mostly just a stylistic choice. – FumbleFingers Dec 11 '20 at 13:02
  • The first time I did this was in Tibet. – Hot Licks Dec 11 '20 at 14:25

2 Answers2

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The sentences mean slightly different things.

I did this for the first time in Tibet.

This implies that this is the first time you've done it ever.

I did this in Tibet for the first time.

This implies that this was the first time you've done it in Tibet, but you've probably done it elsewhere.

Use the first sentence if you want to drive home that you've only done this once, ever, and Tibet was where you did it.

Azor Ahai -him-
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FeliniusRex - gone
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    Actually they're ambiguous. – Hot Licks Dec 11 '20 at 14:26
  • Thank you very much for your well explained answer. So if I say "It was my first time driving in Tibet" means I have drove before but it's the first time I'm doing it in Tibet and "It was my first time in Tibet driving" means it was my the first time ever that I drove and that was in Tibet, right? – Guri Dec 11 '20 at 16:33
  • @Guri: this is getting confusing for you. Your second sentence from your comment sounds strange. – fev Dec 11 '20 at 19:07
  • @HotLicks Can you be more specific? The meanings as Rex has written them are pretty overwhelming for me – Azor Ahai -him- Dec 11 '20 at 22:13
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    @AzorAhai-him- In either case it could be read to mean that the first time you ever did it was in Tibet, or you had perhaps done it several times but this was the first time you'd ever done it in Tibet. – Hot Licks Dec 11 '20 at 22:26
  • @HotLicks Maybe if you said something like "Yesterday, I did this for the first time in Tibet." (implying you had done it before, but yesterday was the first time in Tibet). I find it hard to interpret the first by itself with the second meaning – Azor Ahai -him- Dec 11 '20 at 22:36
  • @AzorAhai-him- Either sentence could imply "this is the first time this was done in Tibet by anyone" independent of whether or not I, or another person, had ever done it before anywhere else in the world. – alephzero Dec 11 '20 at 22:43
  • @alephzero Well, not with "I." But you think "Someone was bitten by a radioactive spider in Tibet for the first time yesterday" has either interpretation? It certainly doesn't for me (but it's not wrong if that's the first time ever that also was in Tibet). – Azor Ahai -him- Dec 11 '20 at 22:44
  • @AzorAhai-him- in all three possible interpretations, the issue here is that you can’t derive emphasis from the written form, and we have no context to disambiguate the meaning, so any of the three is technically a valid interpretation, though in context or when spoken any one of the three is likely to be a more evident interpretation than the others. – Austin Hemmelgarn Dec 12 '20 at 02:55
  • @AustinHemmelgarn Sure you can, they bolded some words. – Azor Ahai -him- Dec 12 '20 at 03:56
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If you are not necessarily compelled to use this particular structure, you could choose another to convey your meaning:

It is in Tibet that I did this for the first time.

This applies to I have never done 'this' before, and it is my very first time doing it and I am doing it in Tibet.

This is the first time I did this in Tibet.

This applies to I have done 'this' before, but it is my first time doing 'this' in Tibet.

fev
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