to keep apart
41
3.2
- phrasal verb
- /kip əˈpɑrt/
:
mantener separados
- The teacher decided to keep apart the noisy students during the exam.
- keep two apart
- keep lovers apart
Yes, you need the third person either helping them because they're not wanting to get together or as you described, trying to keep them apart.
- Yes, you need the third person either helping them because they're not wanting to get together or as you described, trying to keep them apart.
- It doesn't revolve around factors that are anything but the the concrete logistical factors that would just keep two people apart.
Examples
-
They try to keep us apart.
-
To ensure a peaceful gathering, the organizers kept apart the opposing groups.
-
Neither this world or the next shall keep us apart.
-
But if something should keep us apart?
-
Nothing can keep us apart.
-
That man is keeping us apart.
-
Now I gotta keep 'em apart.
-
Did my mother try to keep Daddy and me apart?
Academic text (2007) -
The two used their influence to keep battling ethnic groups apart and to set up recreational opportunities in local neighborhoods.
Academic text (2016) -
They can't keep us apart for too long.
Synonyms
256
4.2
To keep someone or something apart from others
219
2.7
To keep one thing apart from another so they do not mix
187
1.6
Stop someone or something from coming near
29
8.1
To keep someone or something apart from others to avoid outside contact
27
6.0
Keep someone apart from others to protect them from harm or criticism
24
7.4
To separate parts of your life, work, or feelings so they stay apart
2
3.9
To keep something separate for a special use or to show it as different
2
6.7
To keep somebody away from other people
2
7.3
Treat two things as separate even if they are linked
1
7.4
Separate things that are attached to each other
To separate someone or something from others by official action
To divide a space with a wall or curtain to make a new area
To keep groups or information separate so they do not share knowledge
To create distance from someone or something to avoid being too close
Antonyms
How Separate
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to prevent things from coming together; to separate' is directly derived from combining 'keep' (to maintain/prevent) with 'apart' (not together). This compositional motion/maintenance pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows normal English syntax, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Keep apart comes from a clear picture: keep as 'to hold' and apart as 'away from each other', so you imagine holding two people or two piles of laundry away so they do not touch. That's why it now means 'to separate' or 'isolate'.