ENGLISH
REFERENCE

keep at

phr. v..
B1 Intermediate Oxford Informal

phr. v.. to continue doing something difficult or boring without stopping.

phr. v.. to persist in a course of action or a specific task despite difficulty, fatigue, or lack of immediate progress.


SIMPLE

Learning guitar is hard, but you must keep at it.

CONTEXTUAL

If you keep at your studies every night, you will eventually pass the exam.

COMPLEX

The researchers decided to keep at the experiment for another year, hoping that a larger data set would finally yield a significant result.

Particles
at
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
keep + at + object
Usage

usually followed by 'it' or a noun phrase representing a task or goal.

Teaching tip

contrast with 'keep on' (which focuses on repetition of an action) versus 'keep at' (which focuses on persistence with a specific task).

Pitfall

You should keep at to practice.You should keep at it.the phrase requires a noun or pronoun object; it cannot be followed directly by an infinitive verb.

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