Word familynounpromiseepromiserpromisorpromissorpromissory notepromiseadjectivepromisefulpromiselesspromisingpromissivepromissoryadverbpromisinglypromissorily
I promise you• It will only turn her to stone, I promise you.• We will find that ship, I promise you.• When we parted I promised I'd write about them.• You shall not be the losers by it, I promise you.• But I promise I won't be bad to you again.• There will, I promise you, be a finalexam.• And I promise you something: I won't let the house get into a hovel.• It takes more than a few days but it goes again, just about. I promise you that.
nGRAMMAR: Patterns with promise
You promise to do something:
He promised to help.
You promise that you will do something:
I promise that I will come to your party.
You promise someone that you will do something:
I promise you that I will come.
You promised that you would do something:
She promised that she would come.
You promised someone that you would do something:
My parents promised me that they would buy me a new car.
✗Don’t say: My parents promised me to buy a new car.
You can also promise someone something:
My parents promised me a new car.
THESAURUS
promise to tell someone that you will definitely do something, or that something will happen 许诺,答应
He promised to give the book back.
他答应要归还那本书。
The organisers have promised that this year’s event will take place.
组织者已承诺本年度的活动将会举行。
swear to make a very serious and sincerepromise, for example in a law court 发誓,宣誓
He had sworn to tell the truth.
他宣誓说实话。
I would never do that, I swear.
我发誓决不会那么做的。
give somebody your word especially spoken to promise sincerely that you will do something or that something is true – often used when you are trying to persuade someone that they can trust you 向某人保证,答应某人〔常用于劝说某人信任自己〕
I give you my word that your money is safe with me.
我向你保证,你的钱放在我这里很安全。
nI’ll let you go out tonight if you give me your word that you’ll be home by 11.
vow to make a very serious promise, often to yourself 〔常指对自己〕发誓
She vowed that she would never drink alcohol again.
她发誓再也不喝酒了。
They vowed to carry on their campaign for justice.
他们发誓要将正义运动继续下去。
assure to promise someone that something will happen or that something is true, in order to try to make them feel less worried 向…保证,使确信
Police have assured the public that they are doing everything they can to find the killer.
警方向公众保证他们在尽其所能抓捕凶手。
guarantee to promise that you will make sure that something will definitely happen, so that there is no question of it not happening 保证,担保
I guarantee that you will have the documents by tomorrow.
我保证明天你能拿到文件。
How can you guarantee that this won’t happen again?
你怎么能担保这种事不会再次发生?
pledge to promise publicly or officially that you will do something, for example to give help or money 〔公开或正式〕保证,许诺
The government has pledged to increase overseas aid to $4 billion over the next five years.
政府承诺未来五年将海外援助增加至40亿美元。
undertake formal to make an official or legal promise to do something 作出〔正式或法律的〕承诺,保证
The government undertook to keep price increases to a minimum.
政府许诺把物价上涨控制在最低限度。
The two sides undertook to respect each other’s territory.
双方承诺将相互尊重对方的领土。
commit to something formal to make a firm and definite promise to do something important, which will affect you for a long time and which could result in serious effects if you fail 承诺某事,投入于某事
Bobby felt unready to commit to a romantic relationship.
博比感觉自己还没有准备好投入一段感情中。
A group of 11 companies has committed to developing a new passenger plane.
11 家公司共同承诺开发一种新型客机。
Examples from the Corpus
promise• "I can't take you to the beach today, after all.'' "But you promised!''• Money promised for language classes and business start-ups did not arrive.• Tanui promised he would be looking out for news about me during the week.• He promises himself an easier workouttomorrow.• Have you assured yourself that you can deliver whatever value is promised in your set of products and services?• Since the Toryelection win in April, Mr Major promised interest rates would come down.• I promised Jamie a ride to school this morning.• Richardson apologized and promised that appropriate action would be taken to fix the problem.• I promised the kids I'd take them to a movie.• Anything about the bond market promises to be long and dull.• The government had promised to investigate the cause of the accident.• Dole repeatedly promisesveterans that he would not touch their benefits.
as promised• On Monday, the hostages were releasedas promised.• Inevitably, therefore, the government fails to deliver the goods as demanded, as expected, and sometimes even as promised.• Jarrett Keach reappeared two hours later, as promised.• Only make sure they pay you as promised.• The women spun the flax and were invited to the weddingas promised.• In Part Three of the present book, as promised, I shall celebrate the sacred power of Imagination.• I had been training throughout the winter and Andy, as promised, sneaked me some races in the summer.• On the inside, as promised, was a label, printed black on gold, scratched and ink-stained but clearly legible.
promise to be something• And what a morning it promises to be!• Educationalstandardspromise to be a flash point in the presidentialcampaign this year.• All in all, it promises to be a hugeweekend with a happy hour and disco etal.• Next year promises to be even better.• The circle seems unbroken, and now, in this new millennium, Showcasepromises to be even more successful.• These promise to be of such importance that I shall briefly relate them here, before journeyingnorth.• Their fleets soon arrived at Constantinople and the war promised to be the most wide-ranging since the fall of the first Napoleon.
promise2 ●●●S3W2 noun
1[countableC]PROMISE a statement that you will definitely do or provide something or that something will definitely happen 保证,承诺,诺言
promise of
We received promises of support from several MPs.
数名议员承诺支持我们。
promise to
He would never break his promise to his father.
他决不会违背对父亲的承诺。
promise to do something
She made a promise to visit them once a month.
她答应每个月去看他们一次。
npromise that
nI received a promise that this would not happen again.
2[uncountableU]SIGN/INDICATION signs that something or someone will be good or successful 〔某事或某人将有好结果或成功的〕迹象,征兆
a young man full of promise
一个大有前途的年轻人
Bill shows great promise as a goalkeeper.
作为守门员,比尔很有希望。
She didn’t fulfil her early promise.
她并未像小时候表现的那样有出息。
3[singular, uncountableU] a sign that something, usually something good, may happen 迹象;〔通常指〕吉兆
promise of
the promise of spring
春天的迹象
The letter gave a promise of greater happiness.
那封信预示了更大的幸福。
COLLOCATIONS – Meaning 1: a statement that you will definitely do or provide something or that something will definitely happen 保证,承诺,诺言
verbs
make a promise 承诺,许诺
I made a promise to my mother that I’d look after Dad.
我答应母亲我会照看父亲的。
keep a promise (also fulfil a promiseBritish EnglishBrE, fulfill a promiseAmerican EnglishAmE formal) (=do what you promised to do) 信守诺言
She said she would come back, and she kept her promise.
她说过会回来的,她也说到做到了。
nThe mayor has fulfilled his promise to get tough on corruption.
break a promise (=not do what you promised to do) 食言
Once again, the government has broken its promises.
政府再一次食言了。
ngo back on your promise (=break it)
They were angry that the company had gone back on its promise.
nrenege on a promise formal (=break it)
It is tempting for the government to renege on its promise.
nhave somebody’s promise (=they have promised you something)
‘It’ll remain a secret?’ ‘Yes, you have my promise.’
nhold somebody to their promise (=make them keep it)
The next day, Gareth held me to my promise to take him fishing.
ADJECTIVES/NOUN + promise
a solemn promise 郑重的承诺
As governor, I made a solemn promise to defend the laws of the Republic.
作为州长,我郑重承诺要捍卫共和国的法律。
a firm promise (=definite) 明确的承诺
nWhat had happened to all those firm promises of help?
a vague promise (=not definite) 含糊的承诺
nLarry made some vague promises to leave his wife.
a false/empty/hollow promise (=one that will not be kept) 虚假的/空洞的承诺
nI didn’t make any false promises.
a broken promise (=one that has not been kept) 背弃的诺言
nThere have been too many broken promises.
na campaign/election promise
He was accused of breaking a campaign promise not to raise taxes.
nTHESAURUS
promise a statement that you will definitely do or provide something, which may not be reliable
‘I’ll call you tomorrow.’ ‘Is that a promise?’
Politicians are always making promises.
pledge a public or official promise to do a particular thing in the future
The Government has fulfilled at least 50% of its election pledges.
We have received pledges of help from various organizations.
vow a very serious promise to do something or not to do something that you choose to make
He made a vow never to drink alcohol again.
your marriage vows
oath a formal promise, especially one that someone makes in a court of law
Witnesses swear a solemn oath to tell the truth.
Public officials must take an oath to support the US Constitution.
undertaking a serious or public promise to do something, especially something difficult which needs a lot of effort or money
The police have given an undertaking to reduce street crime in the city centre.
He was made to sign a written undertaking that he would not go within a mile of her house.
assurance a promise that something will happen or is true, made so that someone is less worried or more confident
You have my assurance that it won’t happen again.
The manager gave me his personal assurance that the goods would be delivered today.
guarantee a very definite promise that something will happen. A guarantee is also a formal written promise by a company to repair or replace a product free if it has a fault within a fixed period of time.
With any diet, there’s no guarantee of success.
I’m afraid I can’t give you a 100% guarantee.
Is the camera still under guarantee (=within the period during which it can be repaired or replaced free)?
nCOLLOCATIONS – Meaning 2: signs that something or someone will be good or successful 〔某事或某人将有好结果或成功的〕迹象,征兆
verbs
show promise (=seem likely to be good or successful)
She showed promise as a singer at an early age.
hold promise (=seem likely to be good or successful – used of things)
The Internet clearly held great promise as an educational tool.
fulfil your/its promise (also live up to your/its promise) (=be as good as expected)
This young player has begun to fulfil his promise.
The rest of this movie never quite lives up to the promise of that opening moment.
adjectives
great promise
He’d initially shown great promise as a goalkeeper.
early promise
Tracey showed early promise in mathematics.
Examples from the Corpus
promise• "I'll call you tomorrow." "Is that a promise?"• He left with a promise that he would be back before six.• Usually the sins confessed were minor in nature: a broken promise, a plagiarized term paper.• Scott made a campaign promise not to raise taxes.• Mannheim's relationism seemed to his detractors like a hollowpromise, an attempt to have it both ways.• But Comcast has made the investment and delivered on its promise.• Even worse, it turned out that being able to offer drinks was not a keypromise for his customers.• Making promises is risky for a company, but it usually does result in improved customer relations.• The refugees are relying on promises of food and aid from the West.• The security of both was the promise of a large proportion of the land after the drainageoperation had been successfully completed.• These promise to be of such importance that I shall briefly relate them here, before journeying north.• Inherent in this promise is a kind of security blanket; the unionchief is replaced with a mutualfundmanager.• Not withstanding this promise, the use of road pricing to change travelhabits still seems some way off.
fulfil ... early promise• In September 1976 he joinedSpurs for £200,000, but his career there never fully fulfilled its earlier promise.• As I entered my fourthlustre, it became evident that I was not going to fulfil my early promise.
Originpromise2
(1300-1400)Latinpromissum, from the past participle of promittere“to send out, promise”