at the instance of

1. 经……的提议

I did it at the instance of one of my colleagues.

我是经我一位同事的提议才做了这件事。

for instance

1. 例如

You can't depend on her: for instance, she arrived late yesterday.

她靠不住:举例说, 昨天她就来迟了。

in the first instance

1. 首先

In the first instance we had better make sure the calculations are correct.

首先我们最好保证计算是正确的。