In today's rapidly developing world, a huge number of new words are added daily to society. Some words, having become new, immediately become obsolete, without having time to enter firmly into everyday life. These are various pagers or video cassettes, floppy disks. It is not so easy to keep up with the new ones, who came most often from abroad, with words. And some of them, like fashion, first leave the human vocabulary, but then return. So it is not surprising if even today not everyone knows what a "present" is. This is what we will try to find out in our article.
What is a "present"
"Present" (from the English. Present) - a gift, give, present.
Translated from French, the word means "gift", "gift", "offering", "souvenir". Less often acts as an adjective in the meaning of "real", "current"
To begin with, it should be determined that "present" is a word not so new, but only came into the Russian language from English. In native Russian, and in general in the post-Soviet space, it is most often used in the meaning of "gift".
Until recently, the word "present" was considered obsolete and playful. Since it appeared in the Russian language several centuries ago. Yes, and in English, in addition to it, another designation of a gift is also used - Gift.
But nevertheless, at the present time, in the age of modern technology and the Internet, foreign words are increasingly entering the lexicon of the Russian-speaking population, taking root and replacing the native names of objects. So in the 21st century, the word "present" is gaining more and more popularity and, perhaps, will soon replace the standard "gift".
What is the difference between a present and a gift
There is an opinion that these are similar, but still different things. A gift is something big, significant, and a present is no longer so significant and conditional. Based on this opinion, we can conclude that a present is something like a souvenir or a conditional gift. For example, it can be a chocolate bar or some kind of trinket. But this is not so, a present=a gift. After all, it is not for nothing that in translation from English the word means exactly this, and not souvenirs.
When it's appropriate to say "present"
As mentioned above, a present is a gift. So, this word can be used in all respects in which a person usually mentions a gift. That is, in relation to what they are going to give. It is also possible to use the word "present" in the meaning of "surprise". It would be inappropriate to say "present" in front of older people, they are still more familiarit would be to hear about giving the usual gift, and not incomprehensibly what. So, in order not to end up in an awkward situation, it is better not to abuse and completely displace its Russian-language counterpart from the lexicon.
