Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Yo también hice la promesa de escuchar más y hablar menos cuando estoy enojado. - I also made the promise to listen more and talk less when I am angry.

With Yo: slightly more contrast/emphasis (maybe replying to someone who just said they did the same).
Without Yo: more neutral and very natural in everyday speech.

Both are correct.

Why is también placed after Yo and not at the end of the sentence?

The most natural position for también is usually near the subject or before the verb:

Yo también hice la promesa…
También yo hice la promesa… (possible, but less common here)
También hice la promesa… (very natural)

Putting it at the very end, like:

✗ Yo hice la promesa de escuchar más y hablar menos cuando estoy enojado también.

is understandable, but it sounds awkward or ambiguous. At the end it can sound like “when I’m angry too” rather than “I also made the promise”.

So placing también near yo or hice clearly shows that I am the one who also did it.

What’s the difference between hice la promesa de… and prometí…?

Both are correct and both mean I promised, but they feel slightly different:

Hice la promesa de escuchar más y hablar menos…
- Literally: I made the promise to…
- Sounds a bit more formal or reflective, like a conscious, possibly important commitment.
Prometí escuchar más y hablar menos…
- More direct and common: I promised to listen more and talk less…
- Simpler, shorter, often used in everyday conversation.

In many contexts they are interchangeable. The version with la promesa highlights the promise as a “thing” (almost like a vow). The prometí version focuses more on the action promise itself.

Why is it la promesa de escuchar and not la promesa para escuchar?

After nouns like la promesa, Spanish normally uses de + infinitive:

la promesa de escuchar
la decisión de cambiar
la idea de ayudar

De here links the noun to the action that explains it. It’s the standard pattern.

Para + infinitive expresses purpose or goal:

Escucho más para entender mejor. = I listen more in order to understand better.

But with promesa, de + infinitive is the normal structure.
✗ la promesa para escuchar sounds unnatural in this sense.

Why are escuchar and hablar in the infinitive form and not conjugated?

In Spanish, after a preposition like de, the verb must be in the infinitive:

la promesa de escuchar
después de hablar
antes de salir

You cannot conjugate the verb there:

✗ la promesa de escucho
✗ la promesa de hablo

So de + infinitive is the only correct form in this structure:

hice la promesa de escuchar más y hablar menos

Could the order be hablar menos y escuchar más instead of escuchar más y hablar menos?

Yes, both orders are grammatically correct:

…de escuchar más y hablar menos…
…de hablar menos y escuchar más…

The choice is stylistic:

escuchar más y hablar menos feels logical because it starts with what you want to increase (escuchar más) and then what you want to reduce (hablar menos).
hablar menos y escuchar más emphasizes cutting down on talking first.

Native speakers use both. Meaning is the same.

Why is it cuando estoy enojado and not cuando esté enojado (subjunctive)?

Both forms exist, but they’re used differently:

cuando estoy enojado (present indicative)
- Used for general, habitual situations:
  - When(ever) I’m angry, in those situations, I will listen more and talk less.
- It describes something seen as real or usual.
cuando esté enojado (present subjunctive)
- Used when the moment is seen as future/uncertain or more hypothetical:
  - Voy a intentar escuchar más y hablar menos cuando esté enojado.

In your sentence, the promise refers to a general pattern of behavior, so cuando estoy enojado (indicative) is natural and standard.

Why is it enojado and not enojada? Does it change with the speaker?

Yes, the adjective enojado/a must agree with the gender (and number) of the person it describes.

A man: Yo estoy enojado.
A woman: Yo estoy enojada.
A group of men or mixed group: Estamos enojados.
A group of women: Estamos enojadas.

So in your sentence:

A male speaker: …cuando estoy enojado.
A female speaker: …cuando estoy enojada.

If the speaker is a woman, using enojado would be incorrect for standard Spanish.

What’s the difference between estar enojado and enojarse?

estar enojado = to be angry (state)
- Estoy enojado. = I am angry.
enojarse = to get / become angry (change of state)
- Me enojo fácilmente. = I get angry easily.
- Me enojé ayer. = I got angry yesterday.

In your sentence:

cuando estoy enojado = when I am (already) angry – it talks about the moment when the anger is present.

If you said:

cuando me enojo = when I get angry – it focuses on the moment the anger appears.

Both are possible, but they describe slightly different aspects of anger (state vs. becoming).

Could I use oír instead of escuchar here?

Not naturally. In Spanish, the nuance is:

oír = to hear (perceive sound, more passive)
escuchar = to listen (pay attention, more active)

Since the sentence talks about a promise to listen more, showing effort and attention, escuchar is the correct verb:

…la promesa de escuchar más y hablar menos…

Using oír would sound off, like talking about just hearing sounds, not truly paying attention.