初めて見たのはヂメリニで庸鍛と・・・

Hello again! I've got another grammar-type question that I hope I can get some help with.

In short, I'm trying to say that I watched a certain movie for the first time in America with friends, but I'm trying to use the 「初めて見たのは」 phrasing. But I don't know how to end the sentence.

初めて見たのは2，3年前にアメリカで友達と・・・だった？

How should I proceed? Is it not possible to do this? Perhaps I should use 「初めては2，3年前にアメリカで友達と見た。」 instead? (Do I need any sort of 「こと」 after that?) Probably. But still, I should know if they above is possible.

J44xm said:

Hello again! I've got another grammar-type question that I hope I can get some help with.
In short, I'm trying to say that I watched a certain movie for the first time in America with friends, but I'm trying to use the 「初めて見たのは」 phrasing. But I don't know how to end the sentence.
初めて見たのは2，3年前にアメリカで友達と・・・だった？
How should I proceed? Is it not possible to do this? Perhaps I should use 「初めては2，3年前にアメリカで友達と見た。」 instead? Probably. But still, I should know if they above is possible.

Click to expand...

Simply putting だった after 「２、３年前」「アメリカで」「ともだちと」 will do.

初めて観たのは２、３年前だった。
初めて観たのはアメリカでだった。
初めて観たのは友だちとだった。

Putting them together is a bit tricky somehow...

初めて観たのは２、３年前（で）、アメリカでだった。
初めて観たのはアメリカで、友だちとだった。
初めて観たのは友だちとで、２、３年前だった。

When it is just two of them, connecting two with 「で」.
When putting all the three together...

初めて観たのは２、３年前のアメリカで、友だちとだった。
初めて観たのは２、３年前のことで、アメリカで友だちとだった。

「初めて観たの」 is a clause which you can regard as noun (because of の),
and ２、３年前の… is complement.

「初めては2，3年前にアメリカで友達と見た。」
I'm afraid it is a bit awkward because 初めて is not a noun but adjective.
If you knock off は it should be OK. Also the position of 初めて is important.

初めて２、３年前にアメリカで友だちと見た。 : OK but rather vague.
２、３年前に初めてアメリカで友だちと見た。: Ok but it could also imply that you've seen it more than once in the US, as well as in other places, and it was a few years ago when you saw it for the first time in the U.S. (not counting other places).
２、３年前にアメリカで初めて友だちと見た。: it is as if you saw it with your friends for the first time a few years ago, though you might have seen it before by yourself.
２、３年前にアメリカで友だちと初めて見た。: this sounds most appropriate, there's no mistake which word 初めて modifies.

I might write like this:
この映画を初めて観たのは２、３年前のことで、アメリカで友だちと一緒に観たのだった。
(Not that it is my recommendation, it's just one of the possible sentences... ）

Thank you very much for the very detailed look at this sentence, undrentide! Made my day, it did! I have questions about one section, though:

undrentide said:

初めて観たのは２、３年前のアメリカで、友だちとだっ た。
初めて観たのは２、３年前のことで、アメリカで友だち とだった。

「初めて観たの」 is a clause which you can regard as noun (because of の),
and ２、３年前の… is complement.

Click to expand...

I'm actually lost here. In the first sentence, why 「前の」 is used? Can you actually say things like 「私は五年前のアメリカに住んでいました」? In the second sentence, why is 「のこと」 used? Since 「・・・2、3年前だった」 is used above, I'd have thought that you could just use 「で」 in the middle of a sentence like that. What is the purpose of "no koto" here?

undrentide said:

「初めては2，3年前にアメリカで友達と見た。」
I'm afraid it is a bit awkward because 初めて is not a noun but adjective.
If you knock off は it should be OK. Also the position of 初めて is important.

Click to expand...

WWWJDIC describes 「初めて」 as an adverb and a noun, which I believe is right, right? (例えば、「初めて観た！」と「初めての旅行は…」。) I'd thought I'd heard 「初めては」 somewhere before, but I suppose I was mistaken.

Many thanks!

J44xm said:

Hello again! I've got another grammar-type question that I hope I can get some help with.

In short, I'm trying to say that I watched a certain movie for the first time in America with friends, but I'm trying to use the 「初めて見たのは」 phrasing. But I don't know how to end the sentence.

初めて見たのは2，3年前にアメリカで友達と・・・だった？

How should I proceed? Is it not possible to do this? Perhaps I should use 「初めては2，3年前にアメリカで友達と見た。」 instead? (Do I need any sort of 「こと」 after that?) Probably. But still, I should know if they above is possible.

Click to expand...

Simpler than it looks:

初めて見たのは2，3年前にアメリカで友達との時だった。

Ah. There's something that I (obviously) hadn't considered. Thanks.

J44xm said:

Thank you very much for the very detailed look at this sentence, undrentide! Made my day, it did! I have questions about one section, though:
I'm actually lost here. In the first sentence, why 「前の」 is used? Can you actually say things like 「私は五年前のアメリカに住んでいました」? In the second sentence, why is 「のこと」 used? Since 「・・・2、3年前だった」 is used above, I'd have thought that you could just use 「で」 in the middle of a sentence like that. What is the purpose of "no koto" here?

Click to expand...

You can get by without the Koto I think but it sounds better included.
Kind of like the difference between "It was 2-3 years ago that I first saw the movie and it was with friends" and "It was 2-3 years ago I first saw the movie and it was with friends." Maybe. But more pronounced.

WWWJDIC describes 「初めて」 as an adverb and a noun, which I believe is right, right? (例えば、「初めて観た！」と「初めての旅行は…」。) I'd thought I'd heard 「初めては」 somewhere before, but I suppose I was mistaken.
Many thanks!

Click to expand...

I don't think I've ever heard it with は or Mae no before a verb.

Thank you all very much!

二、三年前に、アメリカで友達と見たのは（それが）初めて（なんだった、だった、 のことだった。。。）

also seems to work, although I think undrentide's last suggestion is probably very much more natural.