Past Tense of “keep”
The past tense of keep is kept; the past participle is kept.
Why “keep” behaves this way
"Keep" comes from Old English "cepan," originally meaning something closer to "to seize" or "to observe/watch," a sense still faintly visible in phrases like "keep watch" or "keep an eye on." Like "feel" and "sleep," it's a weak verb whose long vowel shortened in the past tense while adding the dental -t suffix, rather than an ancient strong-verb ablaut change.
The "watching/guarding" sense behind "keep" survives most clearly in older institutional vocabulary — a castle's "keep" (the strongest, most heavily guarded tower) and a park "keeper" or zoo"keeper" both preserve the original "to guard/watch over" meaning, distinct from the more general modern sense of "keep" meaning simply "to retain."
The common confusion
There's minimal genuine confusion over the form; the more common issue is with the many idiomatic phrasal verbs built on "keep" (keep up, keep on, keep off, keep to), each of which shifts meaning enough that a learner memorizing "keep" alone won't predict them.
How it's actually used
"Keep" combines with the -ing form of another verb to mean "to continue doing something" ("keep talking," "keep trying"), a construction distinct from "keep" used with a direct object to mean "retain" ("keep the change") — both patterns share the identical irregular conjugation (kept/kept) but function as genuinely different grammatical constructions that a learner has to recognize separately. "Keep" also functions as a linking verb describing a maintained state, not an action — "keep quiet," "keep calm," "keep still" — pairing directly with an adjective the way "stay" and "remain" do, a use distinct from "keep" taking a direct object to mean "retain" or combining with -ing to mean "continue."
Across the tense system
"Kept" appears in the fixed idiom "kept in the dark," meaning "deliberately not informed," a figurative extension of "keep" describing a state someone is maintained in rather than an object someone retains, distinct from the more literal sense in "kept the receipt." The imperative form "keep" appears constantly in instructions and signage ("keep left," "keep off the grass," "keep out"), a terse, object-optional use of the verb that functions almost like a fixed formula rather than a full sentence, distinct from every other conjugated use of "keep" across the regular tense system.
Common real mistakes
A subtler error is treating "keep + -ing" (continue doing) and "keep + object" (retain) as interchangeable in translation from languages that use one verb for both senses — "keep the trying" is not valid English; the correct continuation form is simply "keep trying," without an article. A further common learner error is using "keep" where "stay" is grammatically required — "keep calm" is a correct fixed imperative, but "keep in the room" for "stay in the room" is not standard English, since "keep" needs a direct object or a following -ing form to make sense, while "stay" describes remaining somewhere without needing either.
Examples
- She kept the receipt just in case.
- They have kept in touch over the years.
- He keeps a journal every day.
- We were asked to keep the noise down.
- It would have kept us safe from the storm.
- Have you kept up with the news?
- Keep going, you're almost there.
- She's keeping busy with the new project.
Memory trick
Group "keep" with "feel" and "sleep" — all three weak verbs shorten a long vowel and add -t in the past tense (felt, slept) — and remember a castle's "keep" as a fossil of the word's older "to guard" meaning. Remember "keep" also works as a bare linking verb before an adjective ("keep calm," "keep still"), exactly like "stay" and "remain," a third job entirely separate from "keep + object" (retain) and "keep + -ing" (continue) — three distinct grammatical patterns sharing one irregular kept/kept conjugation, worth keeping straight since a learner who's only met one of the three may misparse a sentence that happens to use one of the other two. A further fixed phrase, "keep up appearances," means to maintain an outward impression despite private difficulty, a figurative idiom distinct from every literal sense of "keep" covered above.