this is going to be

Hi, Me_IV,

@Me_IV posted:

Is it true that "this is going to be the first time" is not used with the future simple?

This is going to be the first time I will talk to her.

Is it wrong?

I think it sounds odd. IMHO, the natural tense to use here is the present perfect.

- This will be the first time I have talked to her.

Maybe, your example might sound better with the future continuous, but I am not in favor of it. I prefer the present perfect.

What do you base your take on?

@Me_IV posted:

What do you base your take on?

https://www.proz.com/kudoz/eng...-the-first-time.html

I don't think that that is an exhaustible source. Here are some examples from native speakers:

This is going to be the first time I will not be home for my mother's birthday, which falls on New Year's Day.

Probably that is going to be the first time I will be able to sing.

Maybe, the present perfect is better but it doesn't prove that the future simple is wrong.

I agree with Ahmed that ?"This is going to be the first time I will talk to her" sounds odd. Both "This is going to be the first time I talk to her" and "This is going to be the first time I have talked to her" sound fine to me.

It may be slightly preferable to use the present perfect there, but the simple present would be preferable if the sentence were stood on end: "The first time I talk to her will be on Sunday."

Rationale for the awkwardness of the future simple in "This is going to be the first time I will talk to her" may be found in the fact that a "when"-clause is involved and future-referring adverbial clauses don't take the future simple.

Although the "when"-clause is a relative clause here ("This is going to be the first time [when] I will talk to her"), "when" functions as a relative adverb within the clause and may partake (to some degree) of adverbial-clause restrictions:

• *When I will first talk to her, it is going to be Sunday.
• When I first talk to her, it is going to be Sunday.

OK. But what shall we do with these:

This is going to be the first time I will not be home for my mother's birthday, which falls on New Year's Day.

Probably that is going to be the first time I will be able to sing.

Do you consider them wrong?

@Me_IV posted:

OK. But what shall we do with these:

This is going to be the first time I will not be home for my mother's birthday, which falls on New Year's Day.

Probably that is going to be the first time I will be able to sing.

Do you consider them wrong?

I find them awkward (odd-sounding), just as Ahmed and I found your first example, and I would likewise revise them so that they use either the present simple or the present perfect, for the same reasons I gave in my last post.

OK. I think that's one of British/American differences, because this is what an American said.

Where did you hear (or read) that sentences such as

This is going to be the first time I will drive a truck.

are wrong? I would prefer to include "that" resulting in

This is going to be the first time that I will drive a truck.

but the shortened form follows a quite common pattern. I see nothing wrong with it.

@Me_IV posted:

OK. I think that's one of British/American differences, because this is what an American said.

You seem to be assuming, incorrectly, that I am British. I am not.

Yes, I thought you were British. Well, then I don't know the reason why some natives approve of it others don't. I took into account your explanation but you understand that it's confusing when one is exposed to controversial opinions.

@Me_IV posted:

Well, then I don't know the reason why some natives approve of it others don't. I took into account your explanation but you understand that it's confusing when one is exposed to controversial opinions.

Your question here is interesting and falls in an area of English grammar about which native speakers' opinions and sensibilities will differ somewhat. Cut-and-dry answers about correctness or incorrectness are not to be found in this area.