送礼究竟要用“gift”还是“present”呢？

十二月底，圣诞连着新年，你一定送出或是收到了不少礼物。“礼物”在英语中有两个单词“gift”& “present”，这两个单词有什么区别呢？

首先分享一句电影《功夫熊猫1》中的Master Wugui对 Po说过这样一句话：

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”.

这句话是什么意思，先不说，我们先看 gift, present，究竟该怎么理解呢？它们作为“礼物”这层意思，又有什么不同呢？答案在最后我们将会揭晓。

起源：

Gift和present来源于不同语系。Gift来自古日耳曼语，是“给予”的意思。原来指代“给”这个行为，后来就演变为“所给的东西”。在古英语中，Gift指的是给新娘父母的彩礼。

而present来源于法语，意思是“递交、献上、赠送”的意思。A present就是所赠送或授予的东西。从13世纪开始，这两个词都表示的是，在不要求付款的前提下，一件东西的所有权发生了转移。

区别：
在“礼物“这个层面上说，gift & present的使用会有非常细微的差别。

gift 更常被看作是“不受约束随便赠与的东西”（something given freely with no restrictions）

比如你随时送的，不考虑节日或是纪念日送的礼物，就要用gift.
This book is a free gift for every reader.
这本书是给所有读者的礼物。

present 则不同，经常指代有一些仪式感的，比较正式场合下的“送礼”。
在正式场合下，有仪式感的礼物 ,用present.
比如：wedding present, birthday present, Christmas present

其他意思的不同：

gift

名词：天赋

Her grandmother had the gift of making people happy.
她奶奶有逗人开心的本事。
He has a gift for drawing.
他有画画的天赋。
动词：白给，赠与
She was gifted with a good voice.
她被赐予了一副好嗓子。

present
名词：目前;现在
He lives in the present with no thought of tomorrow.
他活在当下，不考虑未来。

形容词: 表示 “现有的；现在的；目前的”。
in the present situation在现有的情况下
The present owner of the house is Lily.这个房子现在的业主是莉莉。

动词：表示把…交给;颁发;授予;提出;提交;(以某种方式)展现，显示，表现

She was told to present herself at the Town Hall at 11.30 for the induction ceremony.
她被告知于11点30分在市政厅参加就职仪式。

我们再次回过头看这句话，它应该怎样理解呢？

gift在这句话用则理解为“所被给予礼物”，在这个语境下，意译为“当下的拥有”更有恰当。

最后一个单词“present”有同音双关语的意思，一音双关，即是礼物，也是现在的意思。

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”.
你对未来和过去考虑的太多了,有句老话：昨天是历史，明天是未知，今天才是拥有。这就是为什么它叫做礼物（现在）。

专项练习：
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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