Quote Originally Posted by Exciter View Post
`Я зуб даю' (literally: `I give my tooth') is reinforced the promise like `I swear' but without a religious context.
They swear that the schools are ready for winter.
Better to say "reinforces the promise" which is active, with 'promise' being the object (accusative) whereas "is reinforced..." is passive and requires something afterwards like '...by the promise' in which 'promise' becomes the subject (nominative). This a handy way of reversing the role of the theme word 'promise'. Your English is not terrible at all - it's good! You are heading for perfection, not comprehension!