By Negatives, Present continuous

Yoong Liat wrote: My parents were taking us to the zoo. We were very happy because this was the first time they were taking us to the zoo. that was the first time they had taken us to the zoo My parents are taking us to the zoo. We are very happy because this is the first time they are taking...

1 and 3 are ok. In these examples you are not talking about something you have been doing. Rather, you are expressing the gap in time that no action occured. See has the meaning of meet here and it means one time meeting but over many occasions, just like had in the following...

I can't agree more with you, Casi. Purists may call this speech pattern non-standard English, but all said and done, it is English. All varieties of English, any language for that matter, including this one, have their own set of established standards and are governed by their linguistic and...