Why is there no "the" in front of "first"? Is it okay to not put "the" in front of "first"?
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
You are correct, "the" can be placed here before "first" as it is referring to a specific moment in time. However, it is common to drop "the" at the beginning of the sentence when speaking. It has the effect of making the sentence sound more casual. If the speaker wanted to be very precise with his language, he would have said, "today is the first morning in the house," or "this is the first morning in the house." English speakers often drop the first word of the beginning of the sentence when speaking, especially words like "the," "are you," "I am," "how," and so on. Ex: First batch of cookies are ready! (The first batch of cookies are ready!) Ex: Getting tired? (Are you getting tired?) Ex: So exhausted. (I am so exhausted.)
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