"I will give you your money back tomorrow."
A) She promised me to give the money back the next day.
B) She promised to give me back the money the next day.
I have come across this question on two different websites.Sad to say, neither has the same answer. So, I have to consult.
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HI, Mr.
I did come across both sites with their different answers. I'm not going to give an answer as I have had a problem using the verb 'promise' as it has different uses as is mentioned in 'Longman' and 'Advanced Grammar in Use'. I mean, should it be followed by an indirect object + to, infinitive or not? However, I have found these patterns:
1) promise + someone + something:
Ex:
a) My parents promised me a new car. (Longman)
b) The company promised us a bonus. (Cambridge)
2) promise to do something:
Ex: Ann: I will pay you back next week. Really I will. = Annpromised to pay me back the following week. (A Practical English Grammar)
3) promise (somebody) that .....
Ex:
a) Promise me (that) you won't tell him. (Cambridge)
b) The government have promised that they'll reduce taxes.
4) promise someone to do something: (Not OK according to Longman):
Ex:
My parents promised me to buy a new car. (wrong)
My parents promised me that they would buy me a new car. (correct)
So, according to all mentioned, we can say:
a) She promised to give me back my money. (There's a similar example in Collins English Dictionary.)
b) She promised (that) she would give me back my money.
However, I do doubt 'She promised me to give the money back.'
(A Practical English Grammar):
Advanced Grammar in Use considers 'Sam promised me to ....' wrong
@ayman posted:HI, Mr.
I did come across both sites with their different answers. I'm not going to give an answer as I have had a problem using the verb 'promise' as it has different uses as is mentioned in 'Longman' and 'Advanced Grammar in Use'. I mean, should it be followed by an indirect object + to, infinitive or not? However, I have found these patterns:
1) promise + someone + something:
Ex:
a) My parents promised me a new car. (Longman)
b) The company promised us a bonus. (Cambridge)
2) promise to do something:
Ex: Ann: I will pay you back next week. Really I will. = Annpromised to pay me back the following week. (A Practical English Grammar)
3) promise (somebody) that .....
Ex:
a) Promise me (that) you won't tell him. (Cambridge)
b) The government have promised that they'll reduce taxes.
4) promise someone to do something: (Not OK according to Longman):
Ex:
My parents promised me to buy a new car. (wrong)
My parents promised me that they would buy me a new car. (correct)
So, according to all mentioned, we can say:
a) She promised to give me back my money. (There's a similar example in Collins English Dictionary.)
b) She promised (that) she would give me back my money.
However, I do doubt 'She promised me to give the money back.'
(A Practical English Grammar):
Advanced Grammar in Use considers 'Sam promised me to ....' wrong
I do agree.
Hi, Wael and Ayman,
@Wael Shaltoot posted:"I will give you your money back tomorrow."
A) She promised me to give the money back the next day.
B) She promised to give me back the money the next day.
I have come across this question on two different websites.Sad to say, neither has the same answer. So, I have to consult.
I see that both are grammatically correct, but 'a' is just less common. See the following link:
Hi, Ayman,
@ayman posted:Hi, Ahmed
I came across this sentence in the reference mentioned in your thread. I think it is the only sentence in this book following this pattern. That's why I doubted it.
Unlike LDOCE, 'Longman English Grammar' says:
16.20 Verb + optional noun/pronoun + to-infinitive
"Some verbs can be used with or without a noun or pronoun before a to-infinitive: ask beg, choose, expect, hate, help, intend, like, love, need, prefer, prepare, promise, want ,wish ….
Promise is an exception: there is a difference in emphasis but not in meaning between: promise to and promise you to
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Personally, I see that this form might be acceptable in the active for as the subject of the verb 'promise' can be clearly understood to be the subject of the 'infinitival clause' (syntactic determination), but that form doesn't certainly work in the passive.
- I promised them to be back by 2 o'clock. (Less common, but sounds acceptable.)
- They were promised by me to be back by 2 o'clock. (Wrong)
I think the idea here is that 'them' doesn't have a role to play. Compare:
- I told them to be back by 2 o'clock. = They were told to be back by 2 o'clock. (It is 'they' who will be back at 2 o'clock.)
@Wael Shaltoot posted:"I will give you your money back tomorrow."
A) She promised me to give the money back the next day.
B) She promised to give me back the money the next day.
I have come across this question on two different websites.Sad to say, neither has the same answer. So, I have to consult.
Hi, Wael—Both (A) and (B) are grammatical, but (A) is equivalent in meaning to "She promised me that she would give the money back the next day"; it does not tell us to whom she will give the money back or whose money it was.
