{"id":2405,"date":"2015-11-13T09:00:32","date_gmt":"2015-11-13T17:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=2405"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:44:46","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:44:46","slug":"business-english-pledge-vs-commitment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/business-english-pledge-vs-commitment\/","title":{"rendered":"Business English: Pledge vs Commitment"},"content":{"rendered":"

In my last\u00a0two<\/a>\u00a0posts on words that are close in meaning, I looked at words that had almost exactly the same meaning, but were used in different contexts, and with different grammar.<\/p>\n

Today, we\u2019re going to look at two nouns commonly used in the business world. These words are both commonly used in the same context\u2014the context of customer service. And they have very few differences in grammar, compared to the differences highlighted in the two earlier blog entries.<\/p>\n

However, these words do have different connotations<\/em>\u2014they suggest different feelings and senses, beyond their near-identical literal meanings. Knowing the subtle differences between these words\u2014\u201cpledge\u201d and \u201ccommitment\u201d\u2014can be very useful in the business world. Let\u2019s take a closer look at this pair of similar nouns!<\/p>\n

\u201cPledge\u201d and \u201ccommitment\u201d both refer to something someone has agreed to do or promised to do. Essentially, both words refer to responsibilities. But these nouns describe different types of things that people agree to do.<\/p>\n

Generally, a commitment<\/em> involves time and responsibility, while a pledge<\/em> involves resources and money. In both cases, something highly specific is being guaranteed<\/em>. Someone might have a commitment<\/em> to attend a meeting at a certain time, or complete a specific work project.<\/p>\n

Someone makes a pledge<\/em> to do something like give money to a charity, or contribute building materials to a construction project. A pledge most commonly involves something that is a gift or generous offer. Pledged goods and resources are offered free of charge or sold at a discount. If someone pledges<\/em> something, it is strongly suggested that they want<\/em> to give it. This is in contrast with commitment, which only suggests a responsibility to do something, and does not necessarily imply actual desire.<\/p>\n

(If you read the above two paragraphs carefully, you may also notice the small grammar difference between commitment<\/em> and pledge<\/em>\u2014you can make<\/em> a commitment or have<\/em> a commitment, bit you can only make<\/em> a pledge; pledges are not had<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

If you use \u201cpledge\u201d to refer to time and responsibility, this is a very formal use. Pledge is formal in general, which is why it is more likely to refer to resources and money— things that can be measured very clearly and specifically. If you work in the business world, you\u2019re most likely to use pledge in an advertisement. Companies often talk about the pledge<\/em> they make to their customers or the general public. In these kinds of company memos and ads, pledge<\/em> refers to specific standards and guarantees that the company takes very seriously.<\/p>\n

As a formal word, pledge<\/em> is also very polite. It\u2019s a great word to use when talking to potential customers the first time you contact them\u2014it shows that you respect your customers, and are serious about serving them well. In other words, pledge<\/em> is a great sales buzzword.<\/p>\n

However, once you get a repeat customer and start to build a relationship with them, you\u2019ll want to lose \u201cpledge\u201d in favor of \u201ccommitment.\u201d \u201cCommitment\u201d is less formal and more friendly. And again, it also suggests time and responsibility. Before a customer starts really working with you or your company, you can only offer them pledged things<\/em>\u2014resources or savings. But once you start working with a customer on an ongoing basis, what you give them becomes a commitment of time and responsibility, and not just a material pledge<\/em>.<\/p>\n

One final note\u2014there is one other small but important grammatical difference between the nouns \u201ccommitment\u201d and \u201cpledge.\u201d When you turn \u201ccommitment\u201d into a verb, it changes to become \u201ccommit.\u201d However, \u201cpledge\u201d doesn\u2019t change at all when it becomes a verb. You can make a pledge<\/em> or pledge<\/em> something.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In my last\u00a0two\u00a0posts on words that are close in meaning, I looked at words that had almost exactly the same meaning, but were used in different contexts, and with different grammar. Today, we\u2019re going to look at two nouns commonly used in the business world. These words are both commonly used in the same context\u2014the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13604],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13630],"class_list":["post-2405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vocab"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBusiness English: Pledge vs Commitment - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/business-english-pledge-vs-commitment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Business English: Pledge vs Commitment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In my last\u00a0two\u00a0posts on words that are close in meaning, I looked at words that had almost exactly the same meaning, but were used in different contexts, and with different grammar. 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Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. David has a BS and MA from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew"],"knowsAbout":["TOEFL","IELTS","TOEIC","PET","FCE","BULATS","Eiken","SAT","ACT","GRE","GMAT"],"knowsLanguage":["English","Italian"],"jobTitle":"Content Creator","worksFor":"Magoosh","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":13630,"user_id":80,"is_guest":0,"slug":"davidr","display_name":"David Recine","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Recine","first_name":"David","description":"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT.\r\n\r\nDavid has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His work at Magoosh has been cited in<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C50&q=Recine+magoosh&btnG=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> many scholarly articles<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/minds.wisconsin.edu\/handle\/1793\/65479\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> his Master's Thesis<\/a> is featured on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readingwithpictures.org\/2013\/09\/research-highlight-teaching-english-language-learners-with-comics\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Reading with Pictures<\/a> website, and he's presented at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.witesol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/2014-WITESOL-Program-FINAL-10-28-14.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> WITESOL (link to PDF)<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/interoff\/docs\/nafsaregionv_2014conference\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> NAFSA<\/a> conferences. David has taught K-12 ESL in South Korea as well as undergraduate English and MBA-level business English at American universities. He has also trained English teachers in America, Italy, and Peru.\r\n\r\nCome join David and the Magoosh team on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew\"> Youtube<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\"> Facebook<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/magooshenglish\/?hl=en\"> Instagram<\/a>, or connect with him via<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\"> LinkedIn<\/a>!"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2405\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2405"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=2405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}