Present or presenting???

TantoN   Sun Dec 04, 2005 6:17 am GMT
Hey there,

I have a presentation tomorrow and need your help!

Which is correct:

You did not expect to see me present tonight...
OR
You did not expect to see me presenting tonight...

I alwyas hear people use the 2 forms interchangably, so which one is correct?

Same with, I saw him walk or walking???

And, I remeber her work or working???

By the way, is it give a presentation or do a presentation?

Thanks beforehand,

TantoN
Brennus   Sun Dec 04, 2005 6:25 am GMT
Tanton,

I think we need a little more information on how you plan to use the sentence. It might actually be better to even say "You did not expect to see me giving a presentation tonight" but your readers need more information.
imran   Sun Dec 04, 2005 6:40 am GMT
''You did not expect to see me present tonight'' is right because most of the audience will stay present there from beginning to the end.The difference b/w these two forms is that if a person comes in the middle of the action, that is, during the presentation, then the second one should be used. You can figure out through the following examples;

I saw them play hockey.
I saw them playing hockey.

The first sentence shows that I remained present during the whole action,whereas the second one suggests that I got there somewhere in the middle of the game.
imran   Sun Dec 04, 2005 6:44 am GMT
I agree with Tanton. You could use this sentence ''You did not expect to see me give a presentaton'' instead.
Imran   Sun Dec 04, 2005 6:48 am GMT
I'm sorry! I've typed Tanton mistakenly instead of Brennus.
TantoN   Sun Dec 04, 2005 10:23 pm GMT
Thanks guys for your help!

I think I will be using ''You did not expect to see me present tonight'' for my aydience will be present during the whole presentation time.


Again, thx
Terry   Mon Dec 05, 2005 12:14 am GMT
No, wait Tanton. We do need more information.

Do you mean to say that your audience didn't expect to see you at all? In that case you would use, "You did not expect to see me."

But, if your audience may have expected to see you there (present) but didn't expect to see you give a presentation, then it would be: "You did not expect to see me giving a presentation tonight."

It would generally be "I saw him walking." But, "I remember her work." Again though, I could use a bit more information.

And it's "give a presentation."