James看到外籍老闆走進辦公室,有件事要向老闆說,外籍老闆神色匆忙,只說了:"It will keep."

James非常困惑,老闆要他keep什麼呢?Keep這個字很常見,但我們的專欄比較少提到,今天來看看keep的道地用法。

1.It will keep.

(X)它會保留。

(O)等等再說。

Keep我們最熟悉的意思是「保留,保持」,它還可以延伸為「阻礙、耽擱」。在It will keep這個句子裡,它的意思就是「耽擱、擱置」。

Whatever your news is, it will keep.(不管你有什麼消息,等等再說。)

這種用法很常見,再看例句,熟悉應用場景:

A: "I must tell you something." (我得跟你說件事。)

B: "Can't it keep? I'm in a hurry!"(能以後再說嗎?我現在趕時間。)

A: "Sorry to disturb you, but this problem won't keep."(對不起,打擾你了,可是這個問題不能耽擱。)

2.What's keeping you?

(X)你保留了什麼?

(O)是什麼耽擱了你?

這裡的keep的意思也是「耽擱」。

He is very late - what's keeping him?(他這麼慢,是甚麼耽擱了他?)

3.How are you keeping?

(X)你耽擱了什麼?/你保留了什麼?

(O)你還好嗎?

How are you keeping?是招呼語,問人好不好,相當於How are you doing?

A:"Hi, Mark! How are you keeping?"(嗨,Mark,還好嗎?)

B:"Oh, not so bad."(不錯啊!)

3.Mary tends to keep to herself.

(X)Mary習慣把東西保留給自己。

(O)Mary不太和人來往。

Keep to oneself是慣用語,指「獨處、不跟人說話」。

My neighbor was an elderly lady who kept to herself.(我的鄰居是一位不怎麼和人說話的年長女士。)

I don't see friends very often. I prefer to keep myself to myself. (不經常見朋友,寧願獨處。)

再附上幾個keep的道地用法

●Have a piece of fruit to keep you going.(吃一點水果,不要太餓。)

在句子裡,keep的意思是「(在等待吃飯時)使…不至於太餓」。

●He's old enough now to earn his keep and stop living off his parents.(他現已長大成人,可以自謀生計而不再依靠父母。)

keep也可以當名詞,在這句中的意思是「生計、生活費用」

●Schools keep five days a week.(學校每週上5天課。)

Keep也有「上課」的思。

●Where do you keep?(你住在哪兒?)

Keep有「居住」的意思。

We didn't know where he kept in town.(我們不知道他住在城裡什麼地方。)

責任編輯:易佳蓉
核稿編輯:李頤欣