(1) first 意为“先”“首先”,主要用来说明顺序,暗示接下去还有其他的动作或事件要发生,因此其后往往接有或暗示有 then, next, last 之类的词。如:
First think and then speak. 先想后说。
First, I must apologize to you. 首先,我要向你们表示歉意。
(2) at first 意为“起初”“开始”,它主要强调前后对照,暗示接下去的动作与前面的动词不同甚至相反,因此其后通常有but, afterwards, soon, at last 等词语相呼应。如:
The work was hard at first, but I got used to it. (www.yingyuyufa.com)起初这活儿很累,不过后来我习惯了。
At first they were very happy, but then things started going wrong. 起初他们生活得很幸福,但后来就开始出问题了。
注意上,at first与at last不是一对反义词组,后者的意思是“终于”“最终”。如:
She has at last got everything ready. 她最后把一切准备好了。
At last the bus came. I had been waiting for half an hour. 最后公共汽车来了,我已等了半小时。
以上为“2022年英语四级语法备考first 与 at first用法”内容,祝考生们顺利备考,取得优异的考试成绩。