In the sentences below, get ready for a whole lot of disappointment as people break 約束! … Aha! I just realized that “disappointment” has a great deal to do with “appointments.” Check out the second part of this explanation from the Online Etymology Dictionary:
1434, from M.Fr. desappointer “undo the appointment, remove from office,” from des- “dis” + appointer “appoint.” Modern sense of “to frustrate expectations” (1494) is from secondary meaning of “fail to keep an appointment.
So … disappointment starts with dissed appointments!
Other English Discoveries of Late …
Anyway, back to Japanese—約束 in particular:
彼はしばしば時間を間違えて約束に遅れる。
Kare wa shiba-shiba jikan o machigaete yakusoku ni okureru.
He often mistakes the time, and is late for his appointments.彼 (kare: he)
しばしば (shiba-shiba: often; again and again; frequently)A new word for me! And a pretty cool one!
時間 (jikan: time) hour + interval
間違える (machigaeru: to make a mistake)
timing + difference
遅れる (okureru: to be late; be delayed)彼は来ると約束したが、来なかった。
Kare wa kuru to yakusoku shita ga, konakatta.
He promised to come, and didn’t.彼 (kare: he)
来 (ku(ru): to come)The negative form, 来ない (konai), introduces the o that we see in the past tense form konakatta.
あなたは必ず約束を果たさなければならない。
Anata wa kanarazu yakusoku o hatasanakereba naranai.
You must fulfill your promise without fail.必 (kanara(zu): without fail)
果 (ha(tasu): to fulfill)
