What's the difference between a "promise", "reservation" and "appointment"?
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
This is a great question! These terms all carry the meaning of having a pre-planned meeting (except for "promise"), but they do differ slightly in meaning. An appointment is an arrangement to meet someone at a particular time or place. You can use this to describe meeting others, usually in more formal settings. (To say that you have arranged to meet with someone close to you, just using "meeting with/meeting up with" is fine). Ex: I have an appointment with my coworker in an hour. Ex: I booked an appointment with my hairdresser. Ex: I'm meeting with my sister next week. A reservation is similar to an appointment in that it also involves a predetermined time, but we use this to mean that we have reserved a spot, time, or position for something, like reserving a table at a restaurant or reserving a room at a hotel. Ex: I have a dinner reservation for two people. Ex: I reserved a room at the Hilton for this weekend. Lastly, a promise is a pledge or vow to do something. Some English learners mistakenly use it when describing plans or appointments to meet others, but it is actually not appropriate for that kind of context. Ex: I promise you that I will never be late again. Ex: The boy kept his promise to his mother to do better in school.
