keep – English verb conjugation

English verb forms of keep

Nominal Forms

Infinitive: to keep back sth
Participle: kept back sth
Gerund: keeping back sth

Cognates

-

Indicative

Present

Ikeep back sth
youkeep back sth
he;she;itkeeps back sth
wekeep back sth
youkeep back sth
theykeep back sth

Perfect

Ihave kept back sth
youhave kept back sth
he;she;ithas kept back sth
wehave kept back sth
youhave kept back sth
theyhave kept back sth

Past

Ikept back sth
youkept back sth
he;she;itkept back sth
wekept back sth
youkept back sth
theykept back sth

Pluperfect

Ihad kept back sth
youhad kept back sth
he;she;ithad kept back sth
wehad kept back sth
youhad kept back sth
theyhad kept back sth

Future

Iwill keep back sth
youwill keep back sth
he;she;itwill keep back sth
wewill keep back sth
youwill keep back sth
theywill keep back sth

Future Perfect

Iwill have kept back sth
youwill have kept back sth
he;she;itwill have kept back sth
wewill have kept back sth
youwill have kept back sth
theywill have kept back sth

Subjunctive

Present

Ikeep back sth
youkeep back sth
he;she;itkeep back sth
wekeep back sth
youkeep back sth
theykeep back sth

Perfect

Ihave kept back sth
youhave kept back sth
he;she;ithave kept back sth
wehave kept back sth
youhave kept back sth
theyhave kept back sth

Imperfect

Ikept back sth
youkept back sth
he;she;itkept back sth
wekept back sth
youkept back sth
theykept back sth

Pluperfect

Ihad kept back sth
youhad kept back sth
he;she;ithad kept back sth
wehad kept back sth
youhad kept back sth
theyhad kept back sth

Conditional

Present

Iwould keep back sth
youwould keep back sth
he;she;itwould keep back sth
wewould keep back sth
youwould keep back sth
theywould keep back sth

Perfect

Iwould have kept back sth
youwould have kept back sth
he;she;itwould have kept back sth
wewould have kept back sth
youwould have kept back sth
theywould have kept back sth

Imperative

youkeep back sth
weLet's keep back sth
youkeep back sth

Progressive (Continuous) Forms

Indicative

Present

Iam keeping back sth
youare keeping back sth
he;she;itis keeping back sth
weare keeping back sth
youare keeping back sth
theyare keeping back sth

Perfect

Ihave been keeping back sth
youhave been keeping back sth
he;she;ithas been keeping back sth
wehave been keeping back sth
youhave been keeping back sth
theyhave been keeping back sth

Past

Iwas keeping back sth
youwere keeping back sth
he;she;itwas keeping back sth
wewere keeping back sth
youwere keeping back sth
theywere keeping back sth

Pluperfect

Ihad been keeping back sth
youhad been keeping back sth
he;she;ithad been keeping back sth
wehad been keeping back sth
youhad been keeping back sth
theyhad been keeping back sth

Future

Iwill be keeping back sth
youwill be keeping back sth
he;she;itwill be keeping back sth
wewill be keeping back sth
youwill be keeping back sth
theywill be keeping back sth

Future Perfect

Iwill have been keeping back sth
youwill have been keeping back sth
he;she;itwill have been keeping back sth
wewill have been keeping back sth
youwill have been keeping back sth
theywill have been keeping back sth

Conditional

Present

Iwould be keeping back sth
youwould be keeping back sth
he;she;itwould be keeping back sth
wewould be keeping back sth
youwould be keeping back sth
theywould be keeping back sth

Perfect

Iwould have been keeping back sth
youwould have been keeping back sth
he;she;itwould have been keeping back sth
wewould have been keeping back sth
youwould have been keeping back sth
theywould have been keeping back sth

Other

Verbs conjugated like 'keep'

creep, feel, keep, lose, oversleep, sleep, sweep, weep, becreep, besleep, book-keep, bookkeep, cosleep, downsweep, foreweep, forsleep, gatekeep, housekeep, increep, kape, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)

Verbs similar to 'keep'

beep, eep, jeep, keek, keel, keen, kemp, meep, peep, seep,

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

to reside for a time
sojourn
transitive|proceed with|to prolong
continue, keep on, proceed, sustain
to be left after a number or quantity has been subtracted or cut off
beleave, belive, remain, rest, stay
to stay somewhere temporarily
quarter, sleep over, sojourn, stay, stay over, stop, stop off, stop over, tarry
hold
restrain, detain, maintain, retain, reserve, have
obey
comply, conform, mind, observe, follow
observe
respect, consecrate, sanctify, honor, celebrate, commemorate, solemnize
stock
carry, have

Antonyms

hold
drop, desert, forego, forsake

Additional Information

Phrasal Verbs

Etymology

1. late O.E. cepan "to seize, hold," also "to observe," from P.Gmc. *kopijanan, but with no certain connection to other languages. It possibly is related to O.E. capian "to look," from P.Gmc. *kap- (cepan was used c.1000 to render L. observare), which would make the basic sense "to keep an eye on."
"The word prob. belongs primarily to the vulgar and non-literary stratum of the language; but it comes up suddenly into literary use c.1000, and that in many senses, indicating considerable previous development." [OED]
Meaning "financially support and privately control" (usually in ref. to mistresses) is from 1560. The noun meaning "innermost stronghold of a tower" is from 1586, perhaps a translation of It. tenazza, with a notion of "that which keeps" (someone or something); the sense of "food required to keep a person or animal" is attested from 1801. Keepsake is first recorded 1790, on model of namesake; thus an object kept for the sake of the giver. For keeps "completely, for good" is Amer.Eng. colloquial, from 1861. Keeper "one who has charge of some person or thing, warden" is from c.1300; sense of "one who carries on some business" is from c.1440.
2. From Middle English kepen (“to keep, guard, look after, watch”), from Old English cēpan (“to seize, hold, observe”), from Proto-West Germanic *kōpijan, from Proto-Germanic *kōpijaną (“to look, heed, watch, observe”) (compare West Frisian kypje (“to look”)), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵab-, *ǵāb- (“to look after”) (compare Lithuanian žẽbti (“to eat reluctantly”), Russian забо́та (zabóta, “care, worry”)).
3. The dialectal sense of the verb meaning “to put back” or “put away” may be analyzed as a semantic loan from a local language—compare Welsh cadw and Mandarin 收 (shōu). See: Middle English 'kepen', Proto-Germanic '*kōpijaną'.

Sample Sentences

  • [...] to elbow his way upward in the world. He was much over-dressed, in a gaudy vest of many colors, a blue neckerchief, bedropped gayly with yellow spots, and arranged with a flaunting tie, quite in keeping with the general air of the man. His hands, large and coarse, were plentifully bedecked with rings; and he wore a heavy gold watch-chain, with a bundle of seals of portentous size, and a great [...] (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • [...] could manage to insinuate four people into it, all at one time; and entreating each other to observe how very airy it was (in dock ), and how there was a beautiful port-hole which could be kept open all day (weather permitting ), and how there was quite a large bull’s-eye just over the looking-glass which would render shaving a perfectly easy and delightful process (when the ship did n't [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] French officials is sufficiently contemptible; but there is a surly boorish incivility about our men, alike disgusting to all persons who fall into their hands, and discreditable to the nation that keeps such ill-conditioned curs snarling about its gates. (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] where everybody is a merchant, resides above his store; so that many occupations are often carried on in one house, and the whole front is covered with boards and inscriptions. As I walked along, I kept glancing up at these boards, confidently expecting to see a few of them change into something; and I never turned a corner suddenly without looking out for the clown and pantaloon, who, I had no [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] as I was busy loading stones into a cart, that young Mas’r Tom stood there, slashing his whip so near the horse that the creature was frightened. I asked him to stop, as pleasant as I could,—he just kept right on. I begged him again, and then he turned on me, and began striking me. I held his hand, and then he screamed and kicked and ran to his father, and told him that I was fighting him. He came [...] (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • [...] themselves to any useful pursuit, on that account ) are so often and so unexpectedly and summarily cut off, and reinstated, and cut off again, that the whole family, down to the remotest cousin, is kept in a perpetual fever. At length it becomes plain that the old lady or gentleman has not long to live; and the plainer this becomes, the more clearly the old lady or gentleman perceives that [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] is handsome, and smart, and bright ? I tell you, Eliza, that a sword will pierce through your soul for every good and pleasant thing your child is or has; it will make him worth too much for you to keep. ” (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • [...] and their contents were discharged. But though sight and hearing were gone for ever, the poor child 's sufferings were not ended. The fever raged during seven weeks; for five months she was kept in bed in a darkened room; it was a year before she could walk unsupported, and two years before she could sit up all day. It was now observed that her sense of smell was almost entirely destroyed; [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] saying that I should like to see her write again, the teacher who sat beside her, bade her, in their language, sign her name upon a slip of paper, twice or thrice. In doing so, I observed that she kept her left hand always touching, and following up, her right, in which, of course, she held the pen. No line was indicated by any contrivance, but she wrote straight and freely. (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • “ I wonder what keeps Eliza, ” said Mrs. Shelby, after giving her bell repeated pulls, to no purpose. (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • Okay. -[synthetic voice ] Warning... -Gotta keep pressure on it. I 'm working on it. (Runner)