Will you eat for the first time today?

[Marika33]

You come into the kitchen and see that your husband/wife is cooking, which do you ask:

• Will you eat for the first time today?
• Will you be eating for the first time today?
• Are you gonna eat for the first time today?
• Are you eating for the frist time today?

What the difference between them would be in this context?

 

[5jj]

I woud not ask any of those questions. I can't imagine a situation in which I would ask my spouse if they intended to eat 'for the first time today'.

 

[Marika33]

I woud not ask any of those questions. I can't imagine a situation in which I would ask my spouse if they intended to eat 'for the first time today'.

I don't understand why. If you come into a room and see your friend having a meal, you might ask him if this is his first meal today. In #1 of this thread, the question is similar but about the meal your husband/wife is about to have.

 

[SoothingDave]

"Are you having breakfast?"

We already have a word for the concept of "eating for the first time in a day."

The fact of the time of day, and that she is cooking, even makes that question unnecessary.

 

[jutfrank]

Is this/that your first meal of the day?

 

[Marika33]

"Are you having breakfast?"

We already have a word for the concept of "eating for the first time in a day."

The fact of the time of day, and that she is cooking, even makes that question unnecessary.

You don't seem to understand that this question could be asked in the evening. For instance, she/he told you a couple of days before that she/he was going to eat only in the evening for a while. That's why you're asking that question. You want to know if she/he has really not eaten today, and if what she/he is about to have is his/her first meal.

 

[Skrej]

Another alternative to jutfrank's suggesting in post #4 would be something like "Is this the first thing you've eaten today?' or "Is this the only thing you've had today?"

 

[Marika33]

Another alternative to jutfrank's suggesting in post #4 would be something like "Is this the first thing you've eaten today?' or "Is this the only thing you've had today?"

Thanks!

What about any of my example sentences from #1?

For instance,
— Is this the first thing you will eat today? — Yes, I haven't had anything yet. (says this while cooking)
or
— Are you going to eat for the first time today? — Yes, I haven't had anything yet. (says this while cooking)

 

[5jj]

You don't seem to understand that this question could be asked in the evening.

You don't seem to understand that we are not mindreaders.

For instance, she/he told you a couple of days before that she/he was going to eat only in the evening for a while. That's why you're asking that question. You want to know if she/he has really not eaten today, and if what she/he is about to have is his/her first meal.

You could have made that context clear in the first post.

 

[Skrej]

None of your examples in the first post or post #6 are natural. We'd express it like jutfrank or I have suggested.

Don't get distracted by the tenses as you typically do. If you're cooking as speaking, it's close enough to the time you'll eat it that the tense distinction is moot.

The natural response to either my suggestion or Jutfrank's would be "Yes, this is the first thing I've had today." Unless of course you have already had something, in which case you'd have to respond with something like "No, I had something earlier" or "No, I had some breakfast this morning."

 

[Marika33]

You don't seem to understand that we are not mindreaders.

What I really did not understand is that you could not imagine a situation in which one would want to know that information.
I thought you were a professional.

None of your examples in the first post or post #6 are natural.

What's wrong with these two? Please help me understand.

• — Is this the first thing you will eat today? — Yes, I haven't had anything yet.
  and
• — Are you going to eat for the first time today? — Yes, I haven't had anything yet.

 

[Skrej]

They're unnatural. Nobody would use them, unless under some very narrow, specific contexts. I can't explain it further. It sounds stilted and artificial.

They're not wrong, just unlikely. Just because something is grammatical, doesn't mean it's natural or okay to use.

The only possible context I can even come up with for using the second one is if perhaps I were sarcastically reprimanding a child or absent minded person who has a tendency to skip meals for no good reason (i.e. not for a lack of access to food). Even then I'd be purposely convoluting my speech for theatrical effect to emphasize the 'first' aspect.

That's a very different context than what you're describing.

 

[kttlt]

Is something like "Did you eat anything?" or "Have you not eaten yet?" natural? Seems like the simplest way to get that information.

*I guess these do not stress that I'm specifically asking if the person have had anything at all during the day and will more likely be interpreted as me asking if they've had anything recently.

 

[5jj]

What I really did not understand is that you could not imagine a situation in which one would want to know that information.

I did not say that. I said " I can't imagine a situation in which I would ask my spouse if they intended to eat 'for the first time today'".

 

[jutfrank]

The phrase for the first time is so heavily associated with life experience that when I first read your sentences, I thought you were asking whether the person has chosen today as the day to try eating food, which is obviously silly. I think that's the main reason all four of your sentences are so bad.

Anna's nearly ten months old now. She spoke for the first time today. She said "Mama".

 

[Marika33]

The phrase for the first time is so heavily associated with life experience that when I first read your sentences, I thought you were asking whether the person has chosen today as the day to try eating food, which is obviously silly. I think that's the main reason all four of your sentences are so bad.

"Today" being in those sentences is not an accident. It's there to help the listener understand "for the first time today", not "for the first time in one's lifetime", which is pretty obvious to my mind.

You come into the kitchen and see that your husband/wife is cooking, which do you ask:

1. Will you eat for the first time today? (or Will you be eating ...)
2. Are you gonna eat for the first time today? (or Are you gonna be eating ...)
3. Are you eating for the frist time today?
   (she/he told you a couple of days before that she/he was going to eat only in the evening for a while. That's why you're asking that question. You want to know if she/he has really not eaten today, and if what she/he is about to have is his/her first meal.)