Basic+ Word of the Day: promise

promise (verb, noun) past tense: promised

"But you promised to take me swimming!"

If you promise to do something, it means that you say that you will definitely do it.

• I promised to visit him tomorrow.

If you promise someone something, it means that you say that you will give it to them.

• We promised her a new bike for her birthday.

A promise is something that you say that you will definitely do.

• I’m going to help you, and that’s a promise.

Common uses

When someone doesn’t do something that they promised, we often say that they are breaking their promise. For example, “I don’t believe she’ll come because she always breaks her promises.”

In pop culture

Jingle All the Way is a movie about a man who often breaks his promises. At Christmas, Howard promises his son a Turbo Man doll, but he forgets to buy it early. Lots of other children want a Turbo Man doll for Christmas too, so it’s difficult to find in the stores. In this video from the movie, Howard and another man are looking for the doll. Howard asks the people in the store about the Turbo Man doll. What do they do?

There are other meanings of promise.