Meaning & use
keep your promise
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Meaning
phraseidiom
to do what you said you would do.
Grammar: The possessive word changes with the subject: I keep my promise, she keeps her promise.
Patterns
- keep a promise
- keep your promise to someone
- keep your promise to do something
He promised to help, and he kept his promise.
If you keep your promises, people will trust you.
She kept her promise to call me every Sunday.
Common combinations
- keep a promise to someone
- You must keep your promise to your parents.
- keep a promise to do something
- He kept his promise to pay back the money.
- always keep a promise
- She always keeps her promises, so no one worries.
- keep a promise no matter what
- A good friend keeps a promise no matter what happens.
Synonyms and how they differ
- honor a commitment
- This is more formal and often used about work or contracts rather than personal promises.
- deliver on a promise
- This is slightly informal and stresses producing the result you promised.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: keep your promise or keep your word?
keep your promise vs keep your word
This has almost the same meaning, but 'keep your word' is about your honesty in general, while 'keep your promise' refers to one specific promise.
Practice
She said she would visit us, and she ______.
Choose one answer.
The possessive must match the subject 'she', so 'her promise' is right. 'Kept a promise' is possible in general statements, but here we mean one particular promise she made.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “keep your promise”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.