First or firstly，哪个是你的菜?

兔斯基

在写作时，老师会无数遍地强调行文逻辑，最好的办法自然是标上“第一”、“第二”或者是“首先”、“然后”之类的词。那么“first”和“firstly”有没有区别呢？用哪一个更好？我们来看看podcast达人Grammar Girl的意见吧。

First and second are better choices than firstly and secondly for two reasons:

用"first"、"second"比"firstly"、"secondly"更好，有两方面的原因：

First, the shorter versions serve the same purpose as the longer versions. Shorter is often considered better in such cases.

第一，既然两种写法都能表达同样的意思，那么在这种情况下，用短的更好。在四六级考场上时间胜过金钱，省下写“ly”的时间，加几个高级词汇，还可以让阅卷老师眼前一亮哦~

Second, the -ly forms get awkward when you reach bigger numbers such as seventhly and eighthly.……”Do not dress words up by adding ly to them, as though putting a hat on a horse.”

第二，当涉及到更大一些的数字是比如第十七和第十八，写成 “seventhly ”和“eighthly”很奇怪。“不要用-ly来装饰一个词，这就如同给马戴上帽子一样。”

And for heaven’s sake, don’t mix the two forms! If you start with first, second is next, not secondly.