Is 「子供を映画へ連れて行く約束した」 ungrammatical?


> 子供を映画へ連れて行く約束をした。
>

>> I promised to take my child to a movie.

Here's my parsing:

子供を映画へ連れて行く | relative clause

約束をした | verb phrase

We need a noun in order for it to be modified by a relative clause, so we
cannot use 約束する because it's a verb. Therefore, a literal translation for the
above would be "I made the promise to take my child to a movie."




If you want to modify 約束 using a relative clause (or any other noun-modifying
expressions), を is mandatory at least in formal sentences. As you said, 約束する
without を is a verb, and thus cannot be modified by a noun-modifying
expression.

* * *

**を is mandatory** (modifiers are applied to the noun 約束):

  * 大事な約束 **を** した
  * 旅行の約束 **を** した
  * 子供を映画へ連れて行く約束 **を** した

(を may be dropped anyway in informal conversations.)

**を is optional** (modifiers are applied to the verb phrase 約束(を)する):

  * 昨日約束(を)した
  * 確かに約束(を)した
  * 子供を映画へ連れて行くよう約束(を)した

* * *

See Chocolate's comment for details.




If you want to modify 約束 using a relative clause (or any other noun-modifying
expressions), を is mandatory at least in formal sentences. As you said, 約束する
without を is a verb, and thus cannot be modified by a noun-modifying
expression.

* * *

**を is mandatory** (modifiers are applied to the noun 約束):

  * 大事な約束 **を** した
  * 旅行の約束 **を** した
  * 子供を映画へ連れて行く約束 **を** した

(を may be dropped anyway in informal conversations.)

**を is optional** (modifiers are applied to the verb phrase 約束(を)する):

  * 昨日約束(を)した
  * 確かに約束(を)した
  * 子供を映画へ連れて行くよう約束(を)した

* * *

See Chocolate's comment for details.

