[Grammar] Once (or for the first time) in 100 years?

Snappy said:

Which one is better, "once" or "for the first time" in the following sentences? Are they interchangeable?

The financial crisis originated from the United States resulted in the world’s economic crisis that occurred once in 100 years.

The financial crisis originated from the United States resulted in the world’s economic crisis that occurred for the first time in 100 years.

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chellamuthu said:

Hi snappy it is me once again!

First sentence conveys the meaning that the financial crisis occurs once in every hundred years. It is a recurring feature.

But the second one means the crisis occurred for the first time in this hundred years.

So, both are not interchangeable.


With regards

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Snappy said:

Which one is better, "once" or "for the first time" in the following sentences? Are they interchangeable?

The financial crisis originated from the United States resulted in the world’s economic crisis that occurred once in 100 years.

The financial crisis originated from the United States resulted in the world’s economic crisis that occurred for the first time in 100 years.

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Raymott said:

Neither sentence is good. They are hard to correct because it's not certain what you mean.
In fact the recent financial crisis only occurred once and cannot occur again. If it did, it would be a different crisis. So you need to start with something like:
The financial crisis originating in the United States resulted in a world economic crisis ...
Here are some possibilities for the ending:
- a world economic crisis which was the first for (at least) 100 years. [Not true]
- a world economic crisis which was the worst for (at least) 100 years. [Debatable]
- a world economic crisis such as occurs only once in a hundred years. [Debatable]
- perhaps something else, depending on your meaning.

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Snappy said:

Thanks.

If I say, "The financial crisis originated from the United States resulted in the world’s worst economic crisis that occurred for the first time in 100 years," does it make sense?

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Raymott said:

I would write:
... the world’s worst economic crisis in 100 years. (or ...crisis in the last 100 years.)
No, you can't use "for the first time" unless you say something like "A financial crisis occurred for the first time in 100 years".

If you say "the worst financial crisis that occurred for the first time in 100 years" you are comparing it to all the other financial crises that occurred for the first time in 100 years.

And I'd still make the changes to the first part.

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Snappy said:

Actually, the original sentence was written in Japanese. It literally means,
"The financial crisis originated from the United States resulted in the world’s economic crisis that is said to occur once every 100 years."
Does this make sense or is it too Japanese-like English?

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