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They started off. In keeping his self made promise going fast and not stopping, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river.

  1. promise going fast and not stopping
    =promise (which was) to go fast and not stop
    =promise (which was) going fast and not stopping
    =promise going fast and not stop

Or

  1. In keeping his self made promise as he went fast and not stopped, the hare took off.
    = In keeping his self made promise going fast and not stopping, the hare took off.

The original text (which is the source of the problem of the exam - textbook) was

They started off. In keeping his self made promise to go fast and not stop, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river.

But if analyzing this part in these two ways (above), I think 'going fast and not stop' is also correct. Is 'promise going fast and not stopping' gramatically incorrect?

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  • @Lambie The cite-formed sentence is the sentence which is being disputed by me and the answer of the original problem: me: correct answer sheet: incorrect.
    – Hyeonseo Yang
    Commented Oct 2, 2018 at 14:24
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    The title of a question post is only for describing the question; please don't add additional irrelevant statements such as "votes on answers needed" to the title.
    – Sophie Swett
    Commented Oct 2, 2018 at 15:29

3 Answers 3

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Your example might be better written

In keeping with his self made promise of going fast and not stopping

but

going fast and not stopping

is correct and understandable.

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  • My Answer is that the original sentence itself is awkward, but "going fast and not stopping" is fine. Not sure how you got dropping the phrase from my Answer.
    – Peter
    Commented Oct 2, 2018 at 14:39
  • "In keeping his self made promise to go fast and not stop" is not awkward, "In keeping his self made promise going fast and not stopping" is awkward. I think we are confusing the original sentence. I was using the OP's original sentence.
    – Peter
    Commented Oct 2, 2018 at 14:48
  • I may have to wait seeing others vote on your answers.. But thanks anyway.
    – Hyeonseo Yang
    Commented Oct 2, 2018 at 14:57
  • I don't think yours is better written. I think the original text as posted by the OP is better.
    – Lambie
    Commented Oct 2, 2018 at 15:01
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You say:

... promise which was going fast and not stopping

which is (possibly) grammatical, if awkward English. However, while there may be other places where you can drop the "which was", in this sentence you can not. You may be thinking of adjective phrases that start with present participles, such as:

the man (who was) eating by the statue.

which can be shortened to:

the man eating by the statue.

"Eating by the statue" modifies the noun "man", but "going fast and not stopping" is not an adjective phrase modifying "promise". It is the object of what is promised.

Verbs like "promise", "decide", "hope", "plan", "intend", and various others, when immediately followed by another verb, all require the infinitive form of that verb:

I decided to go to the library after school.

I plan to buy eggs on the way home.

I promise to try as hard as I can.

This pattern is the same even if the verb is used as a noun:

I made a decision to go to the library after school.

I forgot my plan to buy eggs on the way home.

I failed (in) my promise to try as hard as I could.

As Peter mentions in his answer, there are other ways to phrase these sentences, but they tend to be awkward and wordy.

I failed (in/with) my promise of trying as hard as I could.

I failed (in/with) my promise that I would try as hard as I could.

Back to your example sentence, the original text is correct and perfectly natural:

In keeping his self-made promise to go fast and not (to) stop, ...

An incomplete list of which verbs are followed by an infinitive and which by a gerund

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  • @Lambie I would make more sense with a comma, "the promise, which was going fast and not stopping" Without the comma, yes, it's confusing, but still most would mentally fill in the pause if they read it. In any case it's still much more awkward than the original.
    – Andrew
    Commented Oct 3, 2018 at 14:38
  • @Lambie I try to just ignore downvotes, especially those that come without explanation. I agree they're a constant irritation. But anyway, my answer was an attempt to dissect OP's thought process, which is why I repeat the awkward phrasing -- but without feedback I don't know if I am even close to the target.
    – Andrew
    Commented Oct 3, 2018 at 15:15
  • Ok, I see your point. You're right about the feedback. :)
    – Lambie
    Commented Oct 3, 2018 at 15:20
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In keeping his self-made promise to go fast and not stop, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river.

That is a perfectly well formed sentence in English.

A promise to do something is very idiomatic. "To" is used to show a purpose or goal.

Question"Is "promise going fast and not stopping" grammatically correct?

No, it is incorrect. Correct is: The hare promised himself to go fast and not stop.

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