Past Tense Of Keep: Keeped Or Kept? (Pronunciation & Usage)

What Is The Past Tense Of Keep?

Regarding the past tense of irregular verbs (such as the verb hang and the verb glide), many find them tricky to learn.

Yet, things will be accessible if you learn the lessons one by one. Today, we’re glad to show you the past tense for the base verb keep:

So what is keep in past tense?

The keep past tense is KEPT – you can spell it K-E-P-T. On top of that, its past participle also looks similar to its past tense. We mean, KEPT.

More than that, referring to the five tense verbs shown in the table below is also vital:

Base Verb/Derived Form (V1)	keep
Present Form/3rd Person/Singular Form (V2)	keeps
Past Form (V3)	kept
Past Participle Form (V4)	kept
Present Participle/Gerund (V5)	keeping

The following video will help you understand the verb keep better. Take a glimpse of this!

Verbs – Past Tense – #21 Irregular (keep, sleep, sweep, creep, leave) – YouTube

How To Pronounce English Verbs Correctly?

Not satisfied with the information provided thus far? It makes sense to perfect their pronunciation.

Are you prepared to start your voyage? Chill out with the American and British English accents for all verb forms of “keep”.

Form of word	Pronunciation
	British English	American English
keep	/kiːp/	/kiːp/
keeps	/kiːps/	/kiːps/
kept	/kept/	/kept/
kept	/kept/	/kept/
keeping	/ˈkiːpɪŋ/	/ˈkiːpɪŋ/

How About The Bury Definition?

This is only the beginning of what promises to be the most intriguing section. All the various meanings of the word “keep” are provided below.

We use the trustworthy Oxford English Dictionary online or Collins Dictionaries for our preference. Get inside the list of all definitions:

1. To protect someone from something.

• He realizes that this ability can keep his boy from harm.

• He kept his boy from harm.

• He had kept his boy from harm by doing this way.

2. To still be in good condition.

• Cream and milk should keep well in the freezer.

• Cream and milk kept well in the freezer.

• Cream and milk had kept well in the freezer.

3. Used to talk or ask about someone’s health.

• How is your grandfather keeping?

• How was your grandfather keeping?

• My grandfather had been keeping well those days.

4. To postpone someone.

• I won’t keep her long. I have just given her a few quick questions.

• I didn’t keep her long. I just gave her a few quick questions.

• I hadn’t kept her long. I have just given her a few short questions.

5. To provide what is essential for someone to live or to support someone by paying for something, etc.

• She can’t keep herself and her family with her meager income.

• She still kept herself and her family with her meager income.

• She had kept herself and her family with her meager income.

6. To manage and own a restaurant or shop.

• The owners keep a grocery store.

• The owners kept a grocery store.

• The owners had kept a grocery store.

7. To care for and own animals.

• The wife keeps the dogs in the backyard.

• The wife kept the dogs in the backyard.

• The wife had kept the dogs in the backyard.

8. To pencil or write down several things as a record.

• She keeps a monthly account of my activities and workload.

• She kept a monthly account of my activities and workload.

• She has kept a monthly account of my activities and workload for a long time.

9. To do what you promised; to get somewhere you used to agree to get.

• The woman keeps her appointment at that clinic.

• The woman kept her appointment at that clinic.

• The woman had kept her appointment at that clinic.

10. To know something, yet not tell it to others.

• These stubborn wee boys keep their past secrets from their fellows.

• These stubborn wee boys kept their past secrets from their fellows.

• These stubborn wee boys had kept their past secrets from their fellows.

11. To continue making something or do it over and over again.

• People keep saying that with no worries.

• People kept saying that with no worries.

• People had kept saying that with no worries.

12. To stay in a certain position or condition; to make something/somebody does that.

• Incredibly! The doctors can keep him alive.

• Incredibly! The doctors kept him alive.

• Incredibly! The doctors had kept him alive.

13. To save one thing for someone.

• The shopkeeper promises he will keep it for me until Friday.

• The shopkeeper promised he would keep it for me until Friday.

• The shopkeeper had kept it for me since Friday.

14. To store or put something in a special place.

• Tommy always keeps his ID card and passport in a secure place.

• Tommy already kept his ID card and passport in a secure place.

• Tommy had kept his ID card and passport in a secure place.

15. To continue to own something and not throw it away or give it back.

• She keeps holding the precious and exorbitant watches on her own.

• She kept holding the precious and exorbitant watches on her own.

• By far, she had kept holding the precious and exorbitant watches.

Simple Questions: A List Of Question Words!

Let off steam with a handful of quick questions. Try to choose the correct verb forms among a, b, c, and d.

1. Throughout that period, I ………………… thinking about Joe, all alone in that place.

a. keeps   b. keeping   c. kept   d. keep

2. We decided to …………………… our old car instead of selling it.

a. kept   b. keep   c. keeps   d. keeping

Answer: 

• C (kept – past tense)

• B (keep – bare infinitive)

FAQs

Is Keep An Irregular Verb?

Yes. Keep is an irregular verb with the past tense and past participle being “kept”. Better yet, grasping all conjugated forms of the verb sounds more enticing.

What Is The Past Participle Of Keep?

Keep in the past participle form is “kept”, and looks the same as its past tense.

Past Tense Of Keep: Keep Or Kept? 

After learning our lesson today, you can end up with the answer with “kept” – that’s it!

How Do You Spell Kept?

It’s simple, you can spell it K-E-P-T.