first/earliest

[I'm a Chubby Baby]

Hello, everyone. Is either 'first' or 'earliest' correct?

London is the first/earliest of these cities to have its own railway networks.

 

[jutfrank]

I'm pretty sure you mean first.

Why are you using is? Can you give us a bit more context?

 

[I'm a Chubby Baby]

I'm pretty sure you mean first.

Why are you using is? Can you give us a bit more context?

Thanks, jutfrank. Yes, I mean 'first'. But is 'earliest' correct?

Please see the chart and let me know whether I should use 'is' or 'was'.

 

[jutfrank]

Use first and was.

 

[I'm a Chubby Baby]

Use first and was.

Thanks, but I don't know why 'was' should be used. London is still the first one to have its own network, isn't it? Could you explain?

 

[jutfrank]

It makes much more sense to talk about the opening of these railway networks as past events.

You can say that London's network is the oldest, but you need to say that London's network was the first to open.