The Phrasal Verb 'Keep Up' Explained
- Phrasal Verbs Explained
- Jun 6
- 14 min read
Updated: Jun 8
An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'keep up' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context
Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them.
'Keep up' is a phrasal verb that I have wanted to write about on here for a long time as it is a really commonly used one in everyday English. Therefore, if you can learn to use it, you will definitely impress your English-speaking friends and colleagues. In this post, I will explain the different meanings that 'keep up' has and you give you lots of example sentences for each one to show you the kinds of contexts in which to use it. So, without further ado, let's make a start....
TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one)
The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'keep' and 'up'
Meaning 1: To stop something from falling
Meaning 2: To continue or maintain something
Meaning 3: To move at the same speed
Meaning 4: To stay updated about something
Meaning 5: To make regular payments
Meaning 6: To stop someone from going to bed
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THE BASICS
KEEP UP: KEY INFORMATION
Usage | Common |
Number of meanings | 6 |
Past tense forms | Kept up / Kept up |
Separable? | Sometimes |
If you have visited my website before, you will know that to begin each post I always look at the individual words that form a phrasal verb, so let's now take a look at the words 'keep' and 'up' and what they mean on their own.
'To keep' is a common irregular English verb which has two main meanings. The first of its meanings is 'to have possession of something' and can be used for anything that we receive and choose not to give or sell to other people.
The other main meaning of 'to keep' is 'to continue something' and is often combined with other verbs in the continuous ('ing) form to specify the action being continued. Aside from these two meanings, the verb 'to keep' can also mean 'to own animals', 'to delay someone' and 'to stay fresh'.
I don't want the book back; you can keep it.
I promise to keep this safe until you come back.
Why do you keep lying to me?
My cat keeps bringing me mice from the garden.
We keep pigs and sheep on the farm.
What is keeping John? Why is he so late?
This food won't keep if it is left outside the fridge.
Next, we have the prepositional particle 'up', whose function in phrasal verbs can often be to add the idea of an upwards direction or increase to the base verb (go up, get up). In addition to that, 'up' can also introduce different ideas to phrasal verbs like completion (use up), appearance (show up) and resistance (stand up), among others.
So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'keep up'....
MEANING 1: To stop something from falling
CEFR Language Level | B1 - Intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To prop up, to hold up, to uphold, to buttress, to support |
Separable? | Yes |
Let's start the meanings of 'keep up' with the one that is closest to the literal meaning of the two words 'keep' and 'up' combined and that is 'to stop something from falling'.
For this application, we are taking the idea of continuation that we get from the verb 'to keep' and combining it with the idea of a high position that we get from the word 'up', creating the idea of not letting something fall or drop from the high position that it is in.
Ben used a stick to keep up the collapsing tent.
Lorraine held the ladder steady to keep Mike up while he fixed the gutter.
The old shelf is barely kept up by a single rusty bracket.
Cyril tried to keep up the sagging ceiling with a makeshift support beam.
We stacked books underneath the bed frame to keep it up after one of the legs broke.
Paul had to put on a belt in order to keep his loose trousers up.
One particular use of this application that is worth mentioning here is to do with football (soccer) and is something that many players of the sport do as a practice exercise. When they bounce the ball continuously on their knees, head or other body part without letting the ball drop to the ground, we say that they are keeping the ball up. This particular activity even has its own (unimaginative) name, which is keepie uppie....look it up if you don't believe me!
During one of his training sessions, Kevin managed to keep the ball up for three minutes without dropping it.
MEANING 2: To continue or maintain something
CEFR Language Level | B1 - Intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To continue, to maintain, to sustain, to uphold, to perpetuate |
Separable? | Yes |
The second application of 'keep up' that we will cover in the post is a continuation of the first one that we just covered and coincidentally means 'to continue or maintain something'.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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In the previous section, we looked at how we can use 'keep up' to refer to making physical objects stay in a high position. Now, we turn our focus to more abstract or non-physical nouns like levels, numbers or figures and keeping these high These levels may be something measurable, like prices or numerical values, or they may be something like 'effort' or 'quality', which are based on judgment rather than values (when high means good).
By ensuring that a level of something remains high, we arrive at this idea of continuation. Please note that we only tend to use 'keep up' in this way with nouns and not verbs. If you want to express a continuing verb action, then the phrasal verb 'keep on' (link here) would possibly be used instead.
Sue worked overtime to keep up her income after losing a client.
They raised interest rates to keep up the value of the currency.
We launched a new campaign to keep sales up during the off-season.
Keep up the good work!
Some common nouns that are used with this particular application are 'strength', 'morale' and 'spirits'. For example, if you are running a marathon, you may take an energy drink with you to keep up your strength over the 26-mile course. Likewise, if you are in a good mood on a Sunday evening, you may listen to some music to keep your spirits up and not allow your mood to drop as Monday morning gets closer (we all know that feeling!). Lastly, it is essential that soldiers fighting in a war keep their morale (mood) up as a group.
The government introduced new policies to keep up public morale during the crisis.
Despite the bad reviews, the company tried to keep up its reputation.
You need to keep your strength up, so drink this.
He struggled to keep up his enthusiasm after so many setbacks.
We spent the evening with Kath to keep her spirits up.
Moreover, this application of 'keep up' can also simply be used to mean 'to continue something that has already been started', not always with a specific emphasis on a continuation of a high level or quality. Many green-fingered people also enjoy keeping up their gardens.
I started learning Portuguese but I didn't keep it up as I found it difficult.
Lisa is sure to keep her diet up as she wants to lose weight before her holiday in August.
Gladys and Beryl have kept up their gardens ever since their husbands died last year.
It is hard to keep up the maintenance of the building when you have a full time job and children to look after.
Lastly, we can also use 'keep up' in this way to talk about things continuing which are outside of our control, such as the weather and other people's behaviour.
If the snow keeps up, we will have to leave soon to make sure we get home.
The neighbour's dog kept up it's barking last night and I couldn't sleep.
MEANING 3: To move at the same speed
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To match, to compete, to contend, to vie with, to equal, to keep pace with |
Separable? | No |
We now move on to our third meaning of 'keep up', which is probably the most common of all of its meanings: 'to move at the same speed as someone or something'.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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This application of 'keep up' is, at its core, all about two or more people or things which are moving in the same direction or following the same path. One of them is the leader or the one in control of the movement in some way; the other are the people or things trying to maintain the same speed and it is from their perspective that we use 'keep up' here.
Note that for this application that we require the additional preposition 'with' to specify the name of the person or thing in the lead or in control of the movement. If you keep up with someone or something, you stay at the same level as them or equal to them.
As you can imagine, this application is often used to refer to walking, driving, running and races of all types.
Rebecca walks so fast that I find it difficult to keep up with her.
The younger soccer players struggled to keep up with the pace of the game.
You’ll have to walk faster if you want to keep up; I'm not going to slow down.
My old car couldn’t keep up with the others on the highway.
Pete trains every day to keep up with the rest of the team.
I was running as fast as I could, but I couldn’t keep up with Tony.
Even on his bike, Wayne couldn’t keep up with the speeding truck.
We do not just use 'keep up' in this way to talk about physical movement however. You can also hear it in reference to nouns for things that we need to follow and respond to in order to always be up to date or have all of the latest information, like 'workload', 'emails' and 'conversations'. For these things, the emails, workload or conversation are the things that are progressing and so we use 'keep up' in the exact same way to talk about staying at the same pace as them and not falling behind.
It's hard to keep up with all the emails I get every day.
Elisabeta couldn't keep up with the English conversation because they were talking too fast.
The office had to hire more staff to help keep up with the increasing workload.
Suzanne struggled to keep up with the demands of her new job.
It’s difficult to keep up with everything when you’re juggling work and family.
KEEP UP! Lastly, if you are not following a conversation closely and you miss important information, your fellow interlocutors may tell you to 'keep up!' once they realise that you have not been following what they have been saying. |
MEANING 4: To stay updated about something
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To stay up to date, to compete |
Separable? | No |
One thing that is certain in life is that things are constantly changing and nothing ever stays the same; whether that be on a worldwide scale or in the small details of our daily lives.
In order to talk about staying ahead of these changes, we need a verb. This is where our fourth meaning of 'keep up' comes in as it means 'to stay updated about something'.
Just as we talked about using 'keep up' to refer to moving at the same pace as things like emails and conversations, we can also use it for anything that changes or develops over time, which we are not always directly involved in.
On a large scale, if we keep up with the news, we are always aware of the latest developments on a national or international level. Likewise, someone who keeps up with technology will always have the most modern equipment and will understand how it works. You can use this for anything that changes over time though, for example older people often find it difficult to keep up with changes in language, social trends and fashion, whilst many people are not able to keep up with changes in law and legislation in their countries.
I always try to keep up with the latest tech trends by reading industry blogs.
It's hard to keep up with all the new features they add every month.
Liz keeps up with current events by watching the news every morning.
To keep up with your studies, you should review your notes daily.
Joe subscribes to newsletters to keep up with developments in artificial intelligence.
We've launched a podcast to help professionals keep up with changes in their field.
Are you keeping up with the latest updates on the trial?
I find it challenging to keep up with social media these days.
I can't keep up with all the new slang my kids are using.
When considering things on a smaller scale, we can often use this application of 'keep up' to talk about staying updated on all of the changes that happen in the lives of our friends and family members.
I can't keep up with Sandy and all her boyfriends; she seems to have a new one every week!
I've been keeping up with what they have been doing on holiday on social media.
Alternatively, if you work for a business in a specific field of industry, you will undoubtedly have competitors in the market and it is a key objective of all businesses to at least keep up with their competitors (or hopefully get ahead of them) and ensure that the are ahead of the pack.
Keeping up with the competition requires constant innovation.
If you don't keep up with your competitors, you will immediately be at a disadvantage.
MEANING 5: To make regular payments
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To maintain |
Separable? | Yes |
Our next meaning of 'keep up' is a more specific one and means 'to make regular payments'.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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For this one, we are primarily concerned with situations in which we commit to a payment agreement such as credit and must therefore make regular payments over a period of time to pay this credit amount off.
If you keep up with the payments, it means that you make your regular payments at the required time and do make late payments or miss them completely.
On a grammatical level, we require the additional preposition 'with' again here to specify the financial agreement or debt. This is a separable usage, however it is used more commonly in an inseparable way. Note that if you do use it separably, the word 'payment' (or similar) should be included along with the finance type e.g. 'mortgage payment' and the preposition 'with' is then not required.
It's been tough, but I've managed to keep up with my mortgage payments.
If you don’t keep up with your credit card bills, you’ll get charged interest.
Fiona is struggling to keep up with her student loan repayments.
They warned him that if he couldn't keep up with the rent, he might be evicted.
He works two jobs just to keep up with his car payments.
You need to keep up with your insurance premiums to stay covered.
They were unable to keep the monthly payments up on the loan.
We need to budget better if we want to keep up with all our bills.
What happens if I can't keep my mortgage repayments up?
As long as you keep up with the payments, your account will remain in good standing.
MEANING 6: To stop someone from going to bed
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To keep awake |
Separable? | Yes |
We have now reached our sixth and final meaning of 'keep up' and this one is all about bed and sleep as it means 'to stop someone from going to bed'.
The word 'up' has many different uses and meanings in English depending on the context and one quite common usage is when we use it as an adverb to mean 'not in bed'. For example, a friend called me by accident at 7am last week but it was not a problem as I was already up and having breakfast, i.e. I wasn't still in bed sleeping.
When we combine this idea with the verb 'to keep' meaning 'to continue', we arrive at the idea of stopping someone from going to bed so that they continue to be 'up'. This may be because you have a small baby who is crying and won't sleep, guests at your house who stay later than you hoped or because your teenage son or daughter is out late and you want to wait for them to get home before going to bed.
In addition to preventing someone from going to bed, we can also use 'keep up' in this way to talk about stopping someone from sleeping, especially if it is due to noise, worry or stress.
On a grammatical level, this application is almost always used separably with the person who stays up going between 'keep' and 'up' either as a name or a pronoun. Don't forget that this usage is transitive and something always has to keep a person up normally against their wishes. If the person chooses not to go to bed, we would use 'stay up' instead.
The noise from the party next door kept me up all night.
Sorry if I kept you up with my late-night phone call.
The baby’s crying kept the new parents up for hours.
I didn’t mean to keep you up; go and get some rest.
The thunderstorm kept me up until 3 a.m.
That scary movie really kept me up last night.
I hate to keep you up, but can we talk for a few more minutes?
The excitement of the trip kept the kids up way past bedtime.
Paul was kept up by anxiety about his big interview the next day.
The bright streetlights outside our window kept us up all night.
COMMON EXPRESSIONS FEATURING 'KEEP UP'
We have almost finished our exploration of the phrasal verb 'keep up' and there are just a couple of expressions that I want to make you aware of before the end....
Keeping up with the Joneses - This rather strange sounding expression is one that is used fairly commonly to talk about when people compete with one another to always have the most modern equipment and cars etc in order to be better than the other people in your neighbourhood or group of friends.
John and Sandra didn’t really need a new car, but they bought one anyway just to keep up with the Joneses as their neighbours have just bought one.
Keeping up with the Joneses has left the Smith family drowning in debt.
Keeping up appearances - This expression is used to talk about people who pretend that they are happy in front of other people or that everything is normal when that is not the case. In other words, they do not want to show others how sad they really are or how bad their situation in life really is.
Even though they were struggling financially, the Smith family kept up appearances by hosting lavish dinners.
Lisa was heartbroken after the divorce, but she kept up appearances at work, smiling and pretending that nothing had happened.
Keep your chin up! - If someone tells you to 'keep your chin up", what they actually mean is 'to stay happy or cheerful', typically when the situation is unpleasant or difficult. It is a statement of support of the person, acknowledging that are experiencing a hard time.
Keep your chin up; everyone believes in you, and you’re stronger than you think.
Marie told me to keep my chin up after I didn’t get the job I really wanted.
We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'keep up'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts.
Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'keep up'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!!
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THE END
The builder puts enough rods in the blocks in order to keep the wall up.
Hi James, your blog is amazing! Everytime I find something new like this sentence "This food won't keep if it is left outside the fridge. " Never thought of using it regarding food😁
Here is my sentence:
"James keeps up writing posts on his fantastic blog, so non native speakers feel more confident speaking English!"