eugenioandreev
Senior Member
Russian
- Mar 15, 2018
- #1
Hello.
I'm writing an article in English for a magazine and, as I'm not a native English speaker, I'd like to ask your opinion on the following issue.
The sentence, that I'm concerned about, goes like this: "In this issue, we present you some new trends in decoration that we discovered at ‘Casa Decor’, the most exclusive interior design exhibition in Europe."
I'm not totally sure whether to use 'present you' or 'present to you'. I've consulted a couple of dictionaries and I've also done a couple of Google searches for phrases with a similar structure (e.g.: "we present you the most ... " and "we present to you the most ..."). According to Google, both options yield approximately the same number of results.
Personally, I'm mostly inclined to the version 'present you some ...' since, if I'm not mistaken, we can draw an analogy between 'present' and 'give'. I'm sure that nobody would ever consider 'I gave you my telephone number yesterday' or 'Could you give me your email address' to be incorrect. Therefore, 'we present you some new trends' or 'we're glad to present you some new trends' should also be perfectly fine. However, I'm still in doubt because the meaning of 'present' in this context is somewhat different from that of 'give'. And that is why, I've decided to ask the opinions of some native English speakers.
I would appreciate your feedback.
Thank you very much!
entangledbank
Senior Member
London
English - South-East England
- Mar 15, 2018
- #2
'Give', 'present', and 'donate' mean more or less the same thing but have different grammar. You can't use meaning to guess at the grammar of one from the grammar of another. I can't use 'present' with two objects ( 
'present someone something'), and I don't think this is standard grammar, though there may be some people who do say it. It can only have one object, but that can be the person or the thing: present somebody with something; or present something to somebody. With a pronoun, such a short word, it is clearer to better to say: 'present you with <a longer object>'.
velisarius
Senior Member
Greece
British English (Sussex)
- Mar 15, 2018
- #3
Present behaves differently from give.
In this issue we present you with some new trends in decoration...
I think this is more idiomatic.In this issue we present to you some new trends in decoration...
(crossposted)
F
Franco-filly
Senior Member
Southern England
English - Southern England
- Mar 15, 2018
- #4
I think I'd use "present you with some new trends..." in this context as I feel "I present to you " is used more when you are physically introducing someone or something, such as a Powerpoint presentation.
A
Archilochus
Senior Member
New Mexico
American English
- Mar 15, 2018
- #5
"I can't use 'present' with two objects ( 'present someone something')"
"I present Fred the award and he looks at it with delight."
According to you that is ungrammatical?
F
Franco-filly
Senior Member
Southern England
English - Southern England
- Mar 15, 2018
- #6
It does to me. I would say "I present Fred with the award.." or "I present the award to Fred.."
A
Archilochus
Senior Member
New Mexico
American English
- Mar 15, 2018
- #7
Shakes. Jul. C. iii. ii. 101, "I thrice presented him a Kingly Crowne, Which he did thrice refuse." (from the OED).
F
Franco-filly
Senior Member
Southern England
English - Southern England
- Mar 15, 2018
- #8
And how often do you use "thrice" nowadays Archilochus?
Loob
Senior Member
English UK
- Mar 15, 2018
- #9
Hello eugenioandreev - welcome to the forums!
As others have said, "we present you some new trends" doesn't work. The simplest solution would be to remove "you":
In this article, we present some new trends in decoration that we discovered at ‘Casa Decor’....
A
Archilochus
Senior Member
New Mexico
American English
- Mar 15, 2018
- #10
I don't use 'thrice' very often, but I do follow 'present' with two objects. If it's good enough for Will, then it's good enough for me.
Englishmypassion
Banned
Nainital
India - Hindi
- Mar 15, 2018
- #11
Archilochus said:
If it's good enough for Will, then it's good enough for me.
"Hath", "methinks" and "prithee" were also good enough for Will.
Myridon
Senior Member
Texas
English - US
- Mar 15, 2018
- #12
Archilochus said:
I don't use 'thrice' very often, but I do follow 'present' with two objects. If it's good enough for Will, then it's good enough for me.
If it's good enough for 1599, it's good enough for 2018?
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