I went to China for the first time in 2008 （是。。。的）

[三百]

大家好！

Sorry for what might be such a simple question, but the more I look at it, the more I'm unsure.

 

If I'm meeting someone for the first time and talking about myself, how would I say "I went to China for the first time in 2008"?

Maybe we were just talking about China, or travel, and I proceeded to say this.

 

What is the most natural way to say it?

 

我第一次去中国是在2008年。(Google Translate)

我第一次去中国是2008年的。(me attempting to modify Google's translation)

我是2008年第一次去中国的。(my own creation)

 

My instinct is to not use 了 or 过. Is this right? Or can I use 了 in this case?

 

我2008年第一次去了中国。

I saw on the Chinese Grammar Wiki you do not usually use the "shi...de" construction for new information, so I'm not sure how unnatural it would sound if I try to use it.

Many thanks!

[Mandarincave]

Looks ok for either of below. Thanks.

 

我第一次去中國是在2008年。

我是在2008年第一次去中國的。

[abcdefg]

 

15 hours ago, 三百 said:

My instinct is to not use 了 or 过. Is this right? Or can I use 了 in this case?

 

我2008年第一次去中国了。That is probably what I would say.

 

我是在2008年第一次去中國的。Very colloquial. Easily understandable. 

[adept]

我第一次去中国是在2008年。

我是2008年第一次去中国的。

 

[Jane98]

You can also say

我是2008年第一次去的中国。

[889]

Consider whether you are in China 来 or not 去 when you make the statement. Chinese tends to be stricter on this than English.