10 ways to use the verb ’KEEP’ in English

Hello! I hope you’re keeping well! In this vocabulary lesson, I will explain the different ways of using the verb “keep“. This common verb has more than one meaning. It can be used to easily express all kinds of situations. If you find it difficult at first, keep studying, and keep coming back for more videos! Keep up the good work! TRANSCRIPT Hello. This is Gill, here, at . And today, we’re going to have a lesson on the use of the verb “to keep“. Okay? It’s a verb that’s used a lot in English, so it’s a very useful word to know, and to know how to use it. And it can actually be used in different ways, in slightly different ways, different meanings. So I’m just going to show you three of those main ways of using the verb “to keep“ in this lesson. Okay. First of all, to explain how “to keep“ is different from the verb “to hold“. Sometimes people get them confused. “To hold“. Okay, I’m at the moment, I’m holding, holding a pen or a board marker. I may not keep it. If I take it home with me, that means I keep it. But if I leave it in this classroom when I go, I did not keep it. I’m holding it now, but I will not be keeping it. I leave it here. Okay, so with “to hold“, for example, you can ask somebody... You’re holding your bag, you need to put your coat on. You can’t do both, so you ask somebody: “Can you hold my bag while I put my coat on?“ Okay? And then: “Thank you.“ You have your bag back again. They give it back. So they hold the bag, it’s temporary. Just like me holding this pen is temporary; I will be putting it back on the table at the end of the session. So “to hold“ is a temporary thing. Just holding something. Okay? So, that’s “to hold“. So now let’s have a look at the first meaning of the verb “to keep“, which means something like to... To retain. Like I was saying, if I retain this, if I keep it, I take it home with me and never... Never give it back to the person it belongs to, which is stealing. So we can’t do that. Can we? No. Okay. So, you can say to somebody... Say you... If I... If this did belong to me, if this was my pen, but somebody else said: “Oh, isn’t that a lovely pen? I need a pen like that. Oh.“ So I would say: “Oh, well, if you... Here you are. You can use it, and if you like it, you can keep it. Okay? I’ve got lots more pens like this, so you’re very welcome to have it. You can keep it.“ So if you like it, the pen, you can keep it. And you keep it, you take it home with you. You use it. It’s then your pen. It was my pen. Now it’s your pen. You kept it. So, past tense: “kept“. Irregular verb. Right. Okay. Next example... For example, maybe I’ve broken my leg or something, and it’s the summer. I can’t go swimming for the whole of the summer because I’ve broken my leg. Right? So I don’t need my swimsuit for the whole of the summer. So... But a friend of mine really, really, really wants to go swimming, and she’s going on holidays soon, and the hotel has a swimming pool. It’s near the sea. She doesn’t have a swimsuit. So, I can’t use my swimsuit; I’ve broken my leg. So, I say to her: “Here is my swimsuit - you can keep it for the summer, but I will need to have it back in September.“ Okay? Because my leg will be better in September, and I will want to start swimming again. So, keeping can be temporary if you say: “You can keep it for the summer,“-okay?-“but I will need to have it back“-you have to give it back to me-“in September.“ Okay? Right? And similarly, if you go in a taxi and you have to pay the taxi driver... Terribly expensive, but anyway. If you’re feeling generous and you’ve got lots of money to spare, you can say: “I told the taxi driver to keep the change.“ Let’s say the taxi fare was, in UK money, £. Okay? And you gave him a £10 note, and you said to him: “Keep the change.“ You didn’t want £ back from him; you were happy to give him a £10 note and let him keep the change. Not give you any change. It’s what you call a “tip“. You gave the taxi driver a tip. Okay? So, keep the change. alright? And then finally, for this section: “You can keep your things in this drawer.“ Maybe you start a new job and you’re on the first day, you’re taken to your desk: “This is where you’re going to be sitting. Here’s your computer. There’s a drawer here. You can keep your things in this drawer.“ So all of your pens, pencils, paper for writing on, anything, your diary, everything you need for your job to stop the table... The desk looking untidy. You can put the things in the drawer. “You can keep your things in this drawer.“ Okay. That’s sort of fairly permanent: keep things in the drawer for the length of the time that you’re going to be working there, so hopefully a nice long time, and hopefully a nice enjoyable job. Okay. Right, so we’ll now move on to look at another aspect of the verb “to keep“.