約束
やくそく
hepburn yakusoku
promise, appointment
Part of speech · noun / suru-verb
Pattern visualization
no decomposition available
Examples
- 友達と公園で会う約束をしました。I promised to meet a friend at the park.
- 約束は必ず守ります。I will keep my promise without fail.
Collocations
約束 (yakusoku, promise)約束する (yakusoku suru, to promise)約束を守る (yakusoku wo mamoru, keep promise)約束を破る (yakusoku wo yaburu, break promise)指切り (yubikiri, pinky swear)
Mnemonic
Yakusoku (約束) is the Sino-Japanese "promise" — 約 (agreement / bind) + 束 (bundle / fasten) = "bound agreement." Partner to yoyaku (facility reservation, already covered). Core collocations: yakusoku wo mamoru (keep a promise, trust), yakusoku wo yaburu (break a promise, betrayal), yakusoku no jikan (the promised time). The children's ritual yubikiri genman (pinky swear with a rhyme) parallels Korean "yak-sok!" and English "pinky swear" — children lock little fingers to seal a strong promise. Yakusoku-goto (an established convention). Metaphor: fubunritsuteki na yakusoku (an unspoken / informal social contract). Korean "yak-sok / yak-jeong / gwan-seup" parallels.
Quick check
Child ritual for sealing a strong promise?