Meaning & use
New Year's resolution
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
a promise you make to yourself at the start of a new year to change a habit or do something better.
Grammar: Countable, so you can say a resolution, two resolutions, or my resolutions; it is usually used with make, keep or break.
Patterns
- make a New Year's resolution
- keep a New Year's resolution
- break a New Year's resolution
- someone's New Year's resolution is to do something
Her New Year's resolution is to call her parents every Sunday.
I made a New Year's resolution to stop checking my phone in bed, and so far it's going well.
He breaks the same New Year's resolution every February.
nouncountable
the practice of deciding on personal goals at the beginning of January, seen as a yearly custom.
Grammar: Often used in the plural to talk about the custom in general, as in 'New Year's resolutions are hard to keep'.
Patterns
- New Year's resolutions are ...
- talk about New Year's resolutions
New Year's resolutions are a big topic in gyms every January.
We spent the whole evening discussing our New Year's resolutions.
Word forms
| plural | New Year's resolutions |
|---|
Common combinations
- make a New Year's resolution
- She made a New Year's resolution to read one book a month.
- keep a New Year's resolution
- Very few people keep their New Year's resolution for the whole year.
- break a New Year's resolution
- I broke my New Year's resolution after three days.
- stick to a New Year's resolution
- If you want to stick to a New Year's resolution, start with something small.
- an unrealistic New Year's resolution
- Going to the gym twice a day was an unrealistic New Year's resolution.
Synonyms and how they differ
- goal
- A goal is any aim you work toward at any time, while a New Year's resolution is specifically made at the start of the year and involves changing your own behavior.
- pledge
- A pledge is a serious, often public promise, usually to someone else; a resolution is private and made to yourself.
- vow
- A vow is a strong, solemn promise, often in a religious or marriage context, and sounds more dramatic than a resolution.
Word family
- resolve verb
- to decide firmly to do something.
- resolute adjective
- determined and not likely to change your mind.
- resolution noun
- a firm decision, or the act of deciding.
Commonly confused: New Year's resolution or revolution? New Year's resolution or solution?
New Year's resolution vs revolution
Revolution means a complete change of government or system, or one full turn; it sounds similar but has nothing to do with personal promises.
New Year's resolution vs solution
A solution is an answer to a problem; a resolution is a decision or promise, so 'New Year's solution' is wrong.
Practice
Which sentence uses the expression correctly?
Choose one answer.
English uses 'make a resolution' for the act of deciding on it, and 'keep' or 'break' it later. 'Do', 'take' and 'put' do not collocate with resolution in this meaning, even though they are common with other nouns.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “New Year's resolution”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.