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"to keep (hold on to)" in seven languages

Meaningto keep (hold on to)

Spanish

guardar

/ɡwaɾˈdaɾ/

inherited

Also 'to put away, save': guarda el archivo.

French

garder

/ɡaʁde/

inherited

Italian

tenere

/teˈnere/

other source · Latin TENĒRE 'to hold'

Conservare is also common.

Portuguese

guardar

/ɡwahˈdah/

inherited

Romanian

păstra

/pəsˈtra/

other source · of disputed origin

Catalan

guardar

/ɡwəɾˈda/

inherited

English

keep

/kip/

native English · Old English cēpan

English → Italianto keep (hold on to)tenereNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: guard, warden (via French).What English and Italian share

Watch out: false friends

  • guardare (Italian) means “to look at, watch” · guardar (Spanish) means “to keep, put away”

    Both from Germanic *wardōn 'to watch over' (English ward, guard). Italian kept the watching; Spanish, like French garder, the keeping.

All false friends

The ancestor

Frankish *wardōn‘to watch, guard’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

Spanish and French keep with a Germanic 'guard' verb — but Italian guardare means 'to look', so an Italian keeps with tenere 'to hold'.

English relatives: guard, warden (via French)

Sound laws at work

Germanic W- becomes gu- / g-

Learn it

Practice the Core verbs deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • esGuardo todas sus cartas.
  • frJe garde toutes ses lettres.
  • itTengo tutte le sue lettere.
  • ptGuardo todas as cartas dele.
  • roPăstrez toate scrisorile lui.
  • caGuardo totes les seves cartes.
  • enI keep all his letters.

More words from the same Latin

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words