at first与first的区别

at first用于前后时间点不同状况的对比，常与but连用，例：

• At first everything seemed fine, but then things started going wrong.

要注意的是，at first也可以不与but连用，如下例没有用到but，且第二句中没有明示对比状况，而是含蓄表达了Hugo在一开始时试图表现得有耐心，但后来就没有耐心了。

• At first Hugo tried to be patient. It's easy to understand that with his fiery temperament this patience did not last.

在不作比较，仅表达“第一，第一次”的意思时，用first，例：

• I first met her at a restaurant.