promote

IPA/prəˈməʊt/
KK[prəmˈot]IPA/prəˈməʊt/

promote — verb

  • promotepresent simple I / you / we / they
  • promoteshe / she / it
  • promotedpast simple
  • promoting-ing form

1. to try to make people interested in something so that they will buy it, use it,

1.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to try to make people interested in something so that they will buy it, use it, support it, or help it grow

Example

The company spent millions on TV ads to promote its new smartphone last summer.

promote + product (direct-object marketing)

A balanced diet and regular exercise help promote good health.

Common collocations
  • promote health
  • promote peace
  • promote awareness
  • promote economic growth
  • promote a product
  • promote an idea
  • promote competition
Synonyms
  • encourage

    more general and personal; focuses on giving confidence or support to a person

  • advertise

    specific to commercial selling through media; more direct than promote

  • advocate

    strong, often public support for a cause or policy; implies personal conviction

  • foster

    gently support the growth or development of something over time

Antonyms
  • discourage

    to try to prevent or reduce interest in something

  • hinder

    to slow down or block progress or development

Grammar Patterns

promote + noun phrase

Usage Note

Object is typically a product, idea, activity, or behaviour that the speaker wants to grow or increase acceptance of. This sense covers both commercial marketing (products, services) and non-commercial advocacy (health, peace, awareness).

Common Mistakes

The new law will promote small businesses to grow.
The new law will promote the growth of small businesses.
promote is not followed by an infinitive; use a noun phrase instead.
The government promoted people to save water.
The government ran a campaign to promote water conservation.
promote takes a noun phrase (the thing being encouraged), not a person + infinitive.

2. to give someone a more important job or a higher rank within an organisation tha

2.verbtransitiveB1
Definition

to give someone a more important job or a higher rank within an organisation than the one they had before

Example

After five years in the department, she was promoted to manager last month.

passive: be promoted to [position]

The company promoted Tariq to senior engineer because of his excellent work.

Common collocations
  • promote to manager / director / CEO
  • be promoted internally
  • get promoted
Synonyms
  • advance

    emphasises career progress and forward movement; slightly more formal

  • elevate

    very formal; suggests a significant rise in status or rank

  • upgrade

    informal; used for position or job title changes in some industries

Antonyms
  • demote

    to move someone to a lower position or rank

  • downgrade

    to reduce someone's status or job level

Grammar Patterns

promote + person + to + position

be promoted + to + position

Usage Note

Frequently used in the passive voice when the promoted person is the subject. The promoting organisation is often omitted in passive constructions: She was promoted to manager. The active form names the employer: The company promoted her to manager.

Common Mistakes

I was promoted as manager.
I was promoted to manager.
Use to, not as, when specifying the new position.
The boss promoted him a manager.
The boss promoted him to manager.
Do not drop the preposition to before the new role.

3. to give a sports team a place in a higher group of competing teams, earned by fi

3.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to give a sports team a place in a higher group of competing teams, earned by finishing near the top of a lower division

Example

After winning the championship, the team was promoted to the top division.

passive: be promoted to [division/league]

The club hopes to be promoted to the Premier League next season.

Common collocations
  • be promoted to the Premier League / Championship / first division
  • earn promotion
  • promote a team
Synonyms
  • move up

    less formal, common in sports commentary and everyday speech

  • send up

    informal British expression limited to football contexts

Antonyms
  • relegate

    the standard opposite in league sports; to move a team down a division

  • send down

    informal British opposite of promote in football

Grammar Patterns

be promoted + to + [division/league]

Usage Note

Common in British English and in league-based sports such as football (soccer), rugby, and basketball. The opposite concept is relegate, which means to move a team down a division. In American English, this concept is usually expressed differently (e.g., move up to the major leagues).

Common Mistakes

The team promoted to the first division.
The team was promoted to the first division.
This sense is almost always passive when the team is the subject; do not drop the auxiliary verb.
The team promoted to a higher league.
The team earned promotion to a higher league.
Use the noun promotion or the passive verb form be promoted.

4. to allow a student who has completed the required work to begin studying at the

4.verbtransitiveB1
Definition

to allow a student who has completed the required work to begin studying at the next level

Example

Students who pass the end-of-year exams are promoted to the next grade.

passive: be promoted to [grade/level]

Putri was promoted to sixth grade after completing all her summer assignments.

Common collocations
  • be promoted to grade five / sixth grade / the next year
  • be promoted automatically
Synonyms
  • move up

    less formal, more common in everyday conversation among students and parents

  • advance

    more formal, used in official school documents and reports

Antonyms
  • hold back

    to keep a student in the same grade for another year

  • keep back

    less common variant of hold back

Grammar Patterns

be promoted + to + [grade/level]

Usage Note

Almost always used in the passive voice, especially in US English. The active form (the school promoted the student) is possible but very rare. This sense is more common in North American school systems; in British English, teachers usually say move up or go up instead.

Common Mistakes

The teacher promoted the student to grade four.
The student was promoted to grade four.
Use the passive; the active form sounds unnatural in most contexts.
He promoted to the next grade.
He was promoted to the next grade.
Dropping the auxiliary verb is ungrammatical in this sense.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Promote, encourage, advertise, and advocate all involve trying to increase interest or support for something, but they differ in focus and context. Promote is the broadest term: it covers everything from selling a product to advancing a cause (The government promoted the use of renewable energy). Encourage is more personal and gentle — you encourage a friend, not a market (Her parents encouraged her to study music). Advertise is strictly commercial and involves paid media (They advertised the sale in the local newspaper). Advocate implies strong, principled support, often for a social or political cause (The group advocates for better public transport). In short: you promote a product or idea, advertise a product with ads, encourage a person, and advocate for a principle.

promote ↗encourage ↗advertise ↗advocate ↗

Common collocations

Adverbs

  • actively promote
  • heavily promote
  • strongly promote
  • widely promote

Prepositions

  • promote to
  • promote from

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Promote comes from the Latin word promovere, which is a combination of pro- (meaning 'forward') and movere (meaning 'to move'). So the original sense was literally 'to move forward'. The word entered English in the 1300s through French (promouvoir). The meaning of 'moving forward in rank' (sense 2) was the first to appear in English. The broader sense of 'helping something grow or succeed' (sense 1) developed later, and the sports and education senses followed in the 1800s.

First known use

14th century

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a