promise

«promise» in Mova's school dictionary: To say that you will certainly do something, or that… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (promise, promises, promised, promising); noun (a promise, promises)

meaning for a pupil

1) To say that you will certainly do something, or that something will certainly happen. tree →

2) A noun: what you say when you promise. tree →

3) To show signs that something will happen or be good: «dark clouds promise rain»; «a promising young player». tree →

sense in the lessons

In stories and everyday life about truth and trust: keeping a promise builds trust, breaking one hurts people. Don't make a promise you cannot keep. In safety: never promise a stranger to keep a secret that makes you feel unsafe — tell a trusted adult. Phrases: make a promise, keep a promise, break a promise, I promise, promise to, a pinky promise, show promise.

examples

• I promise to tidy my room after lunch. tree →
• She kept her promise and came to my party. tree →
• He broke his promise, and his friend was upset. tree →
• Don't make promises you can't keep. tree →
• Dad promised we would go to the beach on Sunday. tree →
• We made a pinky promise. tree →
• The grey sky promised rain. tree →
• She is a promising swimmer. tree →
• You promised you'd pay me to-day." tree →

note

Regular verb: promised. «Promise to do» (promise to help) or «promise that…». Countable noun: a promise, two promises. «Keep» a promise = do it; «break» a promise = not do it. If an adult asks you to promise to keep a secret that worries you, it is right to tell a trusted grown-up.

In the corpora

• Being engaged means two people have promised to marry each other, and a ring is often given as a sign of the promise.
• Before an election, leaflets with smiling faces land on the mat: each candidate explains what they promise.
• An election is when adults vote to choose their leaders and representatives; candidates send leaflets to explain their promises.
• Sponsorship means people promise to give money to a charity if someone completes a challenge.
• The secret of reliable people is to only promise what they can really do.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «promise» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.