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What is Keep up with? How to use Keep up with in English

The phrase Keep up with frequently appears in daily English conversations as well as in exams. So, have you known the meaning, structure, and how to use Keep up with in English? Let's explore it in the article below!

I. What is Keep up with in English?
II. Structure and usage of Keep up with in a sentence
1. 1. To do something or move at an acceptable rate, or at the same rate as someone
2. 2. To do whatever is necessary to stay level or equal with something
III. Distinguish between Catch up with and Keep up with
IV. Some words that go with Keep in English in English
V. Some phrases with Keep up with in English
VI. Exercise on Keep up with in English with answers

I. What is Keep up with in English?

Keep up with is a phrasal verb in English, carrying several meanings such as:

The Keep up with meaning	Example
to do whatever is necessary to stay level or equal with someone or something	My salary is failing to keep up with inflation.
to continue to be in contact with somebody	How many of his friends from primary school does John keep up with?
to learn about or be aware of the news, current events, etc.	Jenny likes to keep up with the latest sports news.
to continue to pay or do something regularly	Kathy is struggling to keep up with the bank loans.

Some keep up with synonyms:

Some keep up with synonyms	Example
Follow /ˈfɒl.əʊ/	Anna followed me into the kitchen.
Understand /ˌʌn.dəˈstænd/	He explained the whole idea again, but I still didn't understand.
Grasp /ɡrɑːsp/	I think I managed to grasp the main points of the presentation.
Comprehend /ˌkɒm.prɪˈhend/	I'll never comprehend why she did that.
Catch on /kætʃ ɒn/	She doesn't take hints very easily, but she'll catch on eventually.

II. Structure and usage of Keep up with in a sentence

Let's explore the structure and usage of Keep up with in a sentence below:

1. To do something or move at an acceptable rate, or at the same rate as someone

Structure:

Keep up with + somebody

Example:

Jenny has tried it again and again but she doesn’t think she can keep up with Peter.
Anna tries to keep up with her dad a lot. He is very good.

2. To do whatever is necessary to stay level or equal with something

Structure:

Keep up with + something

Example:

It was unexpected that in just a week Anna could catch up with studying.
Jenny couldn’t keep up with the last humanitarian flight of the year.

III. Distinguish between Catch up with and Keep up with

If we're not careful, we may confuse the meaning and usage of Catch up with & Keep up with. However, these two phrases still have differences that you need to pay attention to. Let's take a look at the comparison table below:

Distinguish between Catch up with and Keep up with
	Keep up with	Catch up with
Similarities	Both of these phrases describe overtaking someone/something.
Differences	Keep up with means to do whatever is necessary to stay level or equal with someone or something In simple terms, it means that if you have caught up and want to maintain an equal position, not fall behind, then you use Keep up with.	Catch up with means to reach somebody who is ahead by going faster In simple terms, it means that if you are falling behind and want to catch up, then you use Catch up with.
Example	It’s a fast pace, and Jenny’ll have to work hard to keep up.	Anna’s grandfather is trying to catch up with using smartphone.

Distinguish between Catch up with and Keep up with

IV. Some words that go with Keep in English in English

In addition to the phrasal verb Keep up with in English, there are also some other words that commonly go with Keep in English:

Some words that go with Keep in English	Meaning	Example
Keep around	to continue to have someone or something at hand, in close proximity, or in one's employ	Jenny has no idea why they keep around this piece of junk.
Keep down	to be able to eat or drink something without vomiting/ to control the size or number of something and prevent it from increasing	Harry has had some water but he can’t keep any food down.
Keep from	to prevent someone or something from doing something	Peter could hardly keep from laughing.
Keep in	to avoid expressing an emotion synonym restrain	Kathy could scarcely keep in her indignation.
Keep on	to continue to talk in an annoying way about something	The rain kept on all week.
Keep up	to prevent somebody from going to bed	Jenny hopes she is not keeping you up.

V. Some phrases with Keep up with in English

Let's refer to some phrases that go with Keep up with in English below:

Some phrases with Keep up with in English	Meaning	Example
keep up with the demands		Companies are weighing to keep up with the demands of staff.
keep up with together		Our team worked in this common house to keep up with together.
keep up with under constraint		Peter is a person who wants to be free so he cannot keep up with under constraint himself anything.
Keep up with time		Make sure to keep up with time and arrive at the meeting promptly.
Keep up with the Joneses	to always want to own the same expensive objects and do the same things as your friends or neighbors, because you are worried about seeming less important socially than they are	John lives in a wealthy part of town – I bet he just wants to keep up with the Joneses.

Some phrases with Keep up with in English

VI. Exercise on Keep up with in English with answers

To better understand the concept and usage of Keep up with in English, let's complete the exercise part below:

Exercise: Fill in the appropriate preposition with Keep in the sentence:

Jenny’ll be fine as long as she keeps ___________ the path.
The government dammed the river to keep ___________ the water.
This runner couldn’t keep ___________ the pace and lost the lead.
Peter was kept ___________ participating because of his age.
Sara kept ___________ the sandwich which was the first solid food she ate in a week.
Harry told us to keep ___________ the kitchen floor as he had just mopped it.
Kathy used an alarm system to help keep ___________ unwanted guests.
John kept ___________ it until he finally got the knot untied.
Sara kept her husband ___________ with his loud snoring.
Why keep __________ that old car? Anna ought to get rid of it.

Answer:

to
back
up with
from
down

off
away
at
up
around

PREP hopes that through the knowledge summarized in the article above, you have grasped the usage and structure of Keep up with in English. Don't forget to follow PREP regularly to update more useful knowledge!

Master Tu Pham

Founder/CEO at Prep

Founder of Prep Smart Test Preparation Platform. With over 10 years of experience in teaching and test preparation, Mr. Tú has helped thousands of students achieve high scores in the IELTS exam. In addition, Mr. Tú Phạm is also a consulting expert in British Council programs and a speaker at many leading educational events, programs, and conferences.