送禮究竟要用“gift”還是“present”呢？

十二月底，圣誕連著新年，你一定送出或是收到了不少禮物。“禮物”在英語中有兩個單詞“gift”& “present”，這兩個單詞有什么區別呢？

首先分享一句電影《功夫熊貓1》中的Master Wugui對 Po說過這樣一句話：

You are too concerned with what it was and what will be. There is a saying: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called “present”.

這句話是什么意思，先不說，我們先看 gift, present，究竟該怎么理解呢？它們作為“禮物”這層意思，又有什么不同呢？答案在最后我們將會揭曉。

起源：

Gift和present來源于不同語系。Gift來自古日耳曼語，是“給予”的意思。原來指代“給”這個行為，后來就演變為“所給的東西”。在古英語中，Gift指的是給新娘父母的彩禮。

而present來源于法語，意思是“遞交、獻上、贈送”的意思。A present就是所贈送或授予的東西。從13世紀開始，這兩個詞都表示的是，在不要求付款的前提下，一件東西的所有權發生了轉移。

區別：
在“禮物“這個層面上說，gift & present的使用會有非常細微的差別。

gift 更常被看作是“不受約束隨便贈與的東西”（something given freely with no restrictions）

比如你隨時送的，不考慮節日或是紀念日送的禮物，就要用gift.
This book is a free gift for every reader.
這本書是給所有讀者的禮物。

present 則不同，經常指代有一些儀式感的，比較正式場合下的“送禮”。
在正式場合下，有儀式感的禮物 ,用present.
比如：wedding present, birthday present, Christmas present

其他意思的不同：

gift

名詞：天賦

Her grandmother had the gift of making people happy.
她奶奶有逗人開心的本事。
He has a gift for drawing.
他有畫畫的天賦。
動詞：白給，贈與
She was gifted with a good voice.
她被賜予了一副好嗓子。

present
名詞：目前;現在
He lives in the present with no thought of tomorrow.
他活在當下，不考慮未來。

形容詞: 表示 “現有的；現在的；目前的”。
in the present situation在現有的情況下
The present owner of the house is Lily.這個房子現在的業主是莉莉。

動詞：表示把…交給;頒發;授予;提出;提交;(以某種方式)展現，顯示，表現

She was told to present herself at the Town Hall at 11.30 for the induction ceremony.
她被告知于11點30分在市政廳參加就職儀式。

我們再次回過頭看這句話，它應該怎樣理解呢？

gift在這句話用則理解為“所被給予禮物”，在這個語境下，意譯為“當下的擁有”更有恰當。

最后一個單詞“present”有同音雙關語的意思，一音雙關，即是禮物，也是現在的意思。

You are too concerned with what it was and what will be. There is a saying: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called “present”.
你對未來和過去考慮的太多了,有句老話：昨天是歷史，明天是未知，今天才是擁有。這就是為什么它叫做禮物（現在）。

專項練習：
You are too concerned with what it was and what will be. There is a saying: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called “present”.
This book is a free gift for every reader.
Christmas present
Her grandmother had the gift of making people happy.
She was gifted with a good voice.
He lives in the present with no thought of tomorrow.
The present owner of the house is Lily.
She was told to present herself at the Town Hall at 11.30 for the induction ceremony.

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