Hi, guys! Welcome to Series English!
Today we are going to talk about the difference between
'first', 'firstly' and 'at first'.
Differentiating these words is not a piece of cake,
and that's why we are going to talk about them today.
So let's start with the shortest - 'first'.
'First' is used as an adjective,
so it can be used in connection with nouns;
and as an adverb, so 'first' can characterize verbs.
'First' refers to the person or thing,
that comes before others in order, time, amount,
quality of importance.
So there's the first, it comes before others
in different, well, aspects.
For example, 'my first kiss', 'my first dance',
'my first book' and so on,
'your first driving experience'.
Or you can say: 'I need to do this first,
and then I do something else.'
Like 'I need to read the book first,
and then I'll watch the film, because, otherwise,
well, the film might ruin the book for me.'
'Do you know who was the first to perform the loop in a plane?'
I mean the death loop.
This loop is sometimes called 'Nesterov's loop',
because Nesterov was the first to perform it.
The second example:
'In every group there's someone who flakes out first.'
'First' is also used to show the order of points we make.
Like 'To study the English language,
first you need to have great motivation,
second you are supposed to be able to discipline yourself.'
However notice here that to show the order of points
we wanna make, we can also use the word 'firstly'.
So 'firstly you need to have good motivation,
secondly you are supposed to work hard.' And so on.
So you can say 'first' or 'firstly'.
And the same logic goes for 'second' - 'secondly',
'third' - 'thirdly', 'fourth' - 'fourthly', well, and so on.
Sometimes we also say 'first-off', 'second-off', 'third-off'.
Here remember that 'firstly', 'secondly', 'thirdly' and so on
are more official.
Using 'first' and 'firstly' with this meaning
is very popular in writing, however
you can use it in speaking too, obviously.
Once more example: 'Dear subscribers!
Firstly I wanna thank you for your support! I means a lot.'
Well, there won't be any... anything else.
This is the most important, what comes before everything else.
As for the phrase 'at first' it's something like 'at the beginning'.
So we use the phrase 'at first'
when we make temporal contrasts.
So something happens at first, but then it changes.
Thus we can oppose 'at first'
with such phrases as 'eventually',
'in the end', 'then' and so on.
'At first women couldn't participate in the Olympics,
vote and do many other things,
but then they turned things around.'
...but eventually they turned things around.'
...but in the end they turned things around.'
So we create a contrast between earlier times
and present times.
So temporal contrasts, that's when we use the phrase 'at first'.
So there should be always something else,
so you say 'at first... but then...',
...but eventually', 'however', 'after that',
'after a couple of weeks' and so on.
So there should be a contrast, a temporal contrast.
Only 'first' is used to talk about things or people,
who come first in terms of time,
importance, quality, amount and so on.
'First' or 'firstly' is used when we want to order our points,
the points we make within our logic.
if I may put it like this, 'first' or 'firstly'.
And 'at first' is used to make temporal contrasts.
I want to become a pilot. What should I do first?
Gosh! Firstly you need to get this crazy idea out of your head!
And secondly let's go have some fun!
At first I thought that becoming a pilot
is a wonderful idea.
But then somebody talked me out of it.
OK, that's it! I hope that
now differentiating these verbs
is going to be a piece of cake for you!
And you won't have any problems.
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Happy English and Russian practice!
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