promettre

promise

verb proh-MET-ruh Common

Origin: From Latin promittere (to send forth, promise).

Usage Note

Promettre is an irregular verb of the mettre family, so it conjugates like mettre: je promets, tu promets, il promet. It takes an indirect object for the person promised to: je te promets (I promise you). The noun une promesse (a promise) is derived from it, and tenir sa promesse (to keep one's promise) is a very standard collocation.

Examples

"Il promet de revenir demain."

Natural Translation

He promises to come back tomorrow.

Related Words

Explore French by topic

FrenchNow

Aller + Infinitive: The Easy French Future

Form the French near future in seconds: conjugate aller in the present and add an infinitive. Learn futur proche rules, negation, pronouns, and when to use it.

June 4, 2026 6 min read

FrenchNow

French Noun Gender: Rules to Guess Right 80%

Guess French noun gender right 80% of the time using word endings: -age, -ment, -eau are masculine; -tion, -té, -ette are feminine. A high-yield system.

June 3, 2026 5 min read

FrenchNow

Avoir or Être? Picking the Right Past-Tense Helper

Use avoir for the passé composé unless the verb is reflexive or one of ~16 DR MRS VANDERTRAMP motion verbs, which take être and force agreement.

June 4, 2026 5 min read

FrenchNow

French Numbers 70, 80, 90 Made Simple

French numbers 70, 80, 90 are soixante-dix, quatre-vingts, and quatre-vingt-dix. Learn three build formulas to make any number 70-99 on the fly.

June 3, 2026 5 min read