Would you mind introducing a little bit about yourself
- Thread starter sunyaer
- Start date
Hi,
We usually say something like the following: "Would you mind telling us a little bit about yourself?" Telling here implies introducing oneself.
We usually say something like the following: "Would you mind telling us a little bit about yourself?" Telling here implies introducing oneself.
The point is, Sunyaer, as others have pointed out, you are introducing yourself, not a statement about yourself.
This is the obvious objection to the formula which you are suggesting and which I would press you to abandon.
I am introducing myself, and I can be introducing information (not neccessarily a statement) about myself.
I found something on the internet that seems written by a good English speaker, if not a native one.
Here is the source:
http://homestars.com/forums/everything-else/topics/1061-100-percent-commission-free-drain-plumb-companies-what-you-should-know
"Ok, lets start off by Introducing a bit about myself. I have been a plumber for a good 15 years now, completed george brown for my trade school learning and did my 9000hrs as per province of ontario requirements and challenged the mighty c of q. I worked hard labor in commercial plumbing, residential, and now Service plumbing in residential. In my service aspect of my career, I have worked for commission based companies and hourly “100% commission free” claim companies. Well I am here to tell you, that there is no difference! and no such thing as “100% commission free” and in most cases commission free is more expensive! Here is why:"
Now, my feeling tells me that "introducing myself" is more common and logical, while "introducing information about myself" is also logical in some contexts.
I don't know what you are asking us now, Sunyaer.
The problem is that the verb "to introduce" has (at least) two meanings.
One meaning is to tell someone something about a person: his or her name and perhaps more. In that usage, you only introduce a person. You cannot introduce information about a person.
A second meaning is to put one thing into another thing. One can, for example, introduce a topic into a discussion, a chemical into a solution, or a control rod into a nuclear reactor core. In that context, you could introduce information about yourself into a book. Therefore, "introduce information about myself" is (as you wrote) correct in some contexts, but those contexts are not the context of someone introducing himself at a meeting.
In the context that you provided in post #4, only "introduce yourself" is correct. "Introduce information about yourself" is an error. The manager may have made this error because he or she remembers a sentence in which the word "introduce" is used with its other meaning, and does not understand that the two meanings are different.
In the context of my post #6, is the sentence "Ok, lets start off by Introducing a bit about myself...." natural?
Several of us have told you that we don't think it's idiomatic. I haven't changed my view about this. If I were you, I'd avoid saying this.
Why not say 'saying a bit about myself'?
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Again, no. That is not the correct way to say it in the context of a meeting. In that context, you do not introduce anything about yourself: not information, not "a bit," nothing. You introduce yourself. That is all.
I don't find that passage to be well-written at all. I agree with others that "introducing a bit about myself" is strange.
As others have stated, it does not sound natural. You could say "Would you mind introducing yourself and telling us a little about yourself?" To which one might reply, for example: "Yes, hello, my name is Sunyaer, and I live in China and have been learning English for 2 years"