promise VS pledge

Hi,
The major difference is that 'promised' is what is said 99% of the time.

Clive

Hi Clive,

Thank you very much for your reply. But I don't know what you mean by 'what is said 99% of the time.' Could you explain about it? Do you mean 'pledge' is fine here?

Thanks.

Hi,
Let me try to put it more simply. Nobody would use the word 'pledge' in a sentence like this.

It's a much more formal word, that is used much less often. It's a word that is used on much more formal occasions when speaking about much more important matters.

Clive

Hi Clive,

Thank you very much for your explanation! I know what you mean by that. I got the following example from online dictionary, can I use 'committed' instead of 'pledged' here? What is the subtle difference in meaning between 'pledge' and 'commit' here? Is commit' only used in formal cases?

"Trade unions pledged themselves to resist the government plans."

"Trade u

A pledge is a promise to pay something.  
Examples:

I pledged $100 to the charity this year.
I pledge allegiance to the flag (I promise to pay respect and give of my time and service.)

Promise means that I commit do something, not necessarily any payment.

Examples:

I promise to write you once a week.
He promised that the TV would be ready by next Tue

1) "Pledge themselves" means that they promise to spend a lot of time, effort and energy on resisting the government plans. It is the strongest statement. "Pledge" implies a specific criteria of amount of effort or payment. So If someone says "I pledge ...", I can ask "What is your pledge?" or "How much do you pledge?"
2) "Committed themselves" is not quite as strong. It means that the cause i

Hi AlpheccaStars,

Thank you very much for your clear explanations about them. Do you mean we can use 'promise' in formal situations? Is 'commit' only used in formal cases when meaning 'promise'?

Do 'pledge' and 'commit' imply they will definitely do what they have promised and 'promise' implies that they might or might not do what they have promised?

Thanks.

Hi,

Can I omit 'themselves' in ' They committed themselves to...'?

Is there any difference in meaning between 'I pledged myself to...' and 'I pledged to...'?

Thanks.

Pledge is more formal and more specific than a promise, in that it usually involves some kind of payment.


Promises that are not kept are called "empty promises" or "broken promises".

Sometimes people do not honor their commitments or pledges.

If you want to have an ironclad commitment or promise from someone to do something, you must have a formal legal contract.

The reflexive pronoun in sentences with "pledge", "commit" is added for extra emphasis. It can be omitted. 

In "promise", it has a different meaning:

I promised myself a special treat if I won the prize.

John promised himself a new car if he got the promotion.