First Time

[Joey]

Whenever I wanted to say that I was doing something for the first time i would say something like " kyou wa boku eiga o miru koto no hajimete desu" or something like that (that sentence is correct right?) but then beginner lesson 68 introduces a new way to say "first time" with the structure ~hatsu no ~.
So, my question is whats the difference between saying something like what i said above compared with something like "kyou wa hatsu no eiga o miru koto desu"?
Thanks in advance!

[Bueller_007]

Whenever I wanted to say that I was doing something for the first time i would say something like " kyou wa boku eiga o miru koto no hajimete desu" or something like that (that sentence is correct right?) but then beginner lesson 68 introduces a new way to say "first time" with the structure ~hatsu no ~.
So, my question is whats the difference between saying something like what i said above compared with something like "kyou wa hatsu no eiga o miru koto desu"?
Thanks in advance!

"hatsu no" is an adjective--"first". You might say "hatsu no kisu" for "first kiss", for example.

"hajimete" is an adverb--"for the first time". It should precede the verb. You might say "hajimete kisu suru" for "kiss for the first time".

[jkeyz15]

ALC examples - 388点 (ALC rules!!)
hajimete
hatsu

[Joey]

thanks for the explanation and the links!
So for my example i should have said "kyou wa hajimete eiga o miru"?
and if i wanted to use "hatsu" i would have to say "kyou wa hatsu no eiga o miru koto" ?

[Bueller_007]

thanks for the explanation and the links!
So for my example i should have said "kyou wa hajimete eiga o miru"?
and if i wanted to use "hatsu" i would have to say "kyou wa hatsu no eiga o miru koto" ?

The grammar is correct, although you don't need the koto at the end of the second one. Using "koto" at the end of a sentence like this implies a command, so you're kind of telling someone: "TODAY, WATCH THE FIRST MOVIE!"

I would say that neither are particularly natural (after all, they're implying that you're going to watch a movie for the first time *ever*, so this isn't the kind of sentence that gets used a lot), but the first one is much better. Since it's absolutely bizarre to have gone your whole life without watching a movie, you might use "umarete hajimete" instead--"for the first time in my life".

[Joey]

thanks for the explanation and the links!
So for my example i should have said "kyou wa hajimete eiga o miru"?
and if i wanted to use "hatsu" i would have to say "kyou wa hatsu no eiga o miru koto" ?

The grammar is correct, although you don't need the koto at the end of the second one. Using "koto" at the end of a sentence like this implies a command, so you're kind of telling someone: "TODAY, WATCH THE FIRST MOVIE!"

I would say that neither are particularly natural (after all, they're implying that you're going to watch a movie for the first time *ever*, so this isn't the kind of sentence that gets used a lot), but the first one is much better. Since it's absolutely bizarre to have gone your whole life without watching a movie, you might use "umarete hajimete" instead--"for the first time in my life".

thanks for the explanation again.

i was just using watching a movie as an example, since my vocab is very small i just wanted to type something quickly, but yes i understand how it feels unnatural.

i added the koto at the end because since hatsu is an adjective i thought that it would have to describe a noun so i thought i would do that by making miru a noun by adding koto. is that thinking wrong? based on that since hajimete is an adverb i left off the koto because adverbs can describe verbs. that thinking was right, right?
sorry to keep bugging you

[Bueller_007]

thanks for the explanation and the links!
So for my example i should have said "kyou wa hajimete eiga o miru"?
and if i wanted to use "hatsu" i would have to say "kyou wa hatsu no eiga o miru koto" ?

The grammar is correct, although you don't need the koto at the end of the second one. Using "koto" at the end of a sentence like this implies a command, so you're kind of telling someone: "TODAY, WATCH THE FIRST MOVIE!"

I would say that neither are particularly natural (after all, they're implying that you're going to watch a movie for the first time *ever*, so this isn't the kind of sentence that gets used a lot), but the first one is much better. Since it's absolutely bizarre to have gone your whole life without watching a movie, you might use "umarete hajimete" instead--"for the first time in my life".

thanks for the explanation again.

i was just using watching a movie as an example, since my vocab is very small i just wanted to type something quickly, but yes i understand how it feels unnatural.

i added the koto at the end because since hatsu is an adjective i thought that it would have to describe a noun so i thought i would do that by making miru a noun by adding koto. is that thinking wrong? based on that since hajimete is an adverb i left off the koto because adverbs can describe verbs. that thinking was right, right?
sorry to keep bugging you

The "hatsu no" in your sentence COULD modify the entire "eiga wo miru koto" clause, but 99.9% of the time if you said that to a Japanese person they would think that the "hatsu no" modifies only the word "eiga".

You intend for the sentence to break down as:
hatsu no {([eiga] wo miru) koto}

But most people would interpret it as:
{(hatsu no [eiga]) wo miru} koto

[Joey]

oh i see now

thanks for clearly explaining it for me!