Using 初めて with the passive


I was wondering how a passive sentence like:

> トムさんに話しかけられた。
>
> Tom started talking (to me).

could be changed to express that it was the first time that it happened. My
attempt was:

> トムさんに話しかけられたのは、初めてだった。

Is it gramaically correct? ( Should 話しかけられる be in the plain form or in the
informal past?)

Does it sound natural, or is there a better way to say it?




Your attempt, トムさんに話しかけられたのは初めてだった is a perfectly correct Japanese sentence.
You can also say トムさんに話しかけられ **る** のは初めてだった, which is almost the same in this
case. But note that ～るのは初めてだった and ～たのは初めてだった are not always interchangeable.
For example, you have to say トムさんに会うのは初めてだった if "meeting Tom" happens
relatively in the future of the time this statement is about.

(If you just want to use 初めて with the original sentence in the passive voice,
the simplest way to do so is トムさんに初めて話しかけられた, of course.)

For reference, here are the hit results from BCCWJ (online corpus):

  * **[た/だ] + のは初めて + [だった/でした]** : 86 results
  * **[う/く/ぐ/す/つ/ぬ/ぶ/む/る] + のは初めて + [だった/でした]** : 76 results




Your attempt, トムさんに話しかけられたのは初めてだった is a perfectly correct Japanese sentence.
You can also say トムさんに話しかけられ **る** のは初めてだった, which is almost the same in this
case. But note that ～るのは初めてだった and ～たのは初めてだった are not always interchangeable.
For example, you have to say トムさんに会うのは初めてだった if "meeting Tom" happens
relatively in the future of the time this statement is about.

(If you just want to use 初めて with the original sentence in the passive voice,
the simplest way to do so is トムさんに初めて話しかけられた, of course.)

For reference, here are the hit results from BCCWJ (online corpus):

  * **[た/だ] + のは初めて + [だった/でした]** : 86 results
  * **[う/く/ぐ/す/つ/ぬ/ぶ/む/る] + のは初めて + [だった/でした]** : 76 results

