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Gene93 Posted 11 years ago
Vocabulary
Presently and Currently
Hello,
According to an article I read a while ago, "presently" doesn't mean "now, at present". "Currently, however, means exactly that. Therefore we can say: "I am currently working as a bartender," but not "I am presently working as a bartender" or "I am presently looking for a job". According to what I read back then "presently" means "soon". The wind's picking up, it will rain presently.
Can we say: "At present, I am working as a bartender" and "We currently don't have any more information"? The first sounds a little odd to me.
I know that there are regional differences and a lot of people use them incorrectly. What do you think?
According to an article I read a while ago, "presently" doesn't mean "now, at present". "Currently, however, means exactly that. Therefore we can say: "I am currently working as a bartender," but not "I am presently working as a bartender" or "I am presently looking for a job". According to what I read back then "presently" means "soon". The wind's picking up, it will rain presently.
Can we say: "At present, I am working as a bartender" and "We currently don't have any more information"? The first sounds a little odd to me.
I know that there are regional differences and a lot of people use them incorrectly. What do you think?
Top answer
Presently can mean both ‘now, at this moment’ and ‘soon’. Both senses go back to the Middle Ages. The former sense fell into disfavour between the 17th and 20th centuries and some traditionalists stil lobject to it, but it is widely used and generally regarded as acceptable standard English.
- Presently can mean both ‘now, at this moment’ and ‘soon’.
- Both senses go back to the Middle Ages.
- The former sense fell into disfavour between the 17th and 20th centuries and some traditionalists stil lobject to it, but it is widely used and generally regarded as acceptable standard English.
- com/us/definition/english/presently )
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1 Answers
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Presently can mean both ‘now, at this moment’ and ‘soon’. Both senses go back to the Middle Ages. The former sense fell into disfavour between the 17th and 20th centuries and some traditionalists stil lobject to it, but it is widely used and generally regarded as acceptable standard English.
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