poprvé

Poprvé is a Czech adverb meaning “for the first time.” It denotes the initial occurrence of an event or action and is used to describe experiences, actions, or moments that have not happened before. In narration and everyday speech, it helps structure timelines or emphasize novelty, and it can appear at the beginning or within a sentence.

Etymology and form: Poprvé historically derives from the phrase po prvé, meaning “firstly.” Over time the two elements fused into a single word, which is now a standard, unhyphenated adverb in contemporary Czech. The archaic or formal form po prvé survives mainly in fixed expressions or historical texts.

Usage and examples: Poprvé is versatile across registers. Common constructions include poprvé v životě (for the first time in life), poprvé ve škole (for the first time at school), or poprvé v historii (for the first time in history). In narrative or reportage, it often signals a notable debut or a newly experienced situation: Poprvé jsem viděl moře. Poprvé se mi to stalo v kariéře. It is also used in enumerations such as poprvé, podruhé, potřetí to indicate sequence.

Relationship to related forms: While poprvé functions as an adverb, related expressions may use two words, as in po prvé, or rely on other temporal adverbs like nejprve or nejdříve to convey a similar sense of beginnings, though with different nuance.

In summary, poprvé is the standard Czech term to express that something happens for the first time, widely used in spoken language, literature, and journalism to mark novelty and temporal sequence.