"Keep it with you" vs "Keep it with yourself"

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi

Are all the following sentences correct and natural?

Tom

2

#1 & #4 sounds more natural to me.

3

I think 2- is wrong.
There is an expression “keep it to yourself” which means you know some information but don’t tell anyone.

so 2- could be seen to mean that and easily confused, as the phrases you are using suggest you are talking about keeping physical objects

also i PERSONALLY think 3- is more natural than 4-
refering to yourself as “myself” is not very common in natural spoken English (although definitely not unheard of)

maybe there is an example where it could be used…
“what would you have done in that situation?”
“I’d have told the police myself”

this an example of how it can be used

4

Hi Tom

I agree with Ben.
1 and 3 sound natural to me; 2 and 4 don’t.

Sentences 2 and 4 would sound more natural without the word ‘with’. However, the meanings would then be different from sentences 1 and 3.
.

5

Hi, Amy

Wouldn’t it be more natural to say “you can keep it” (like I don’t need your measely car, you can keep it) ?

6

Doesn’t ‘myself’ give an emphasis on ‘me’? Which goes along with ‘I decided to’ not so bad, IMO.

7

Hi all,

Can I say it this way?

Does that make sense?

Cantik

8

Not really, no. It’s grammatically correct, but ‘within’ has a sense of being deep inside, at least in that sentence.

To keep something within myself sort of implies I’m keeping something deep inside my body…If you’re talking about the money from above, it would literally mean the money is inside your body.

This might work however, if you’re some kind of smuggler… :slight_smile:

If you say it, be prepared for looks of puzzlement or laughter.

That being said, I recall a line from my childhood days in church.

“He lives, he lives, Christ Jesus lives today…you ask me how I know he lives, he lives, within my heart.”

Here there’s still that sense of deep inside, but here the idea works in a non-humorous way, as it implies that God is deep inside your heart, a good thing for a religious person.

9

Oh, I wasn’t referring to the money, but I got it. Thanks again!

P/S: I just realized your cat is drinking beer! He is so chubby I was totally distracted and didn’t see he was drinking! Funny cat.

10

.
I’m enjoying that picture, too.

Skrej, are you and your cat by any chance from the same state as Dorothy and Toto?
.

11

You can keep money on you, i.e. about your person. Thus in reply to a request for a loan:

  1. I’m sorry, I don’t have any money on me.

Sometimes the phrase is accompanied by a light patting of the relevant parts of one’s clothing (pockets, etc.).

MrP

12

So does this mean “with” is somewhat incorrect but people still use it anyway, MrP?

13

On second thought, I think it is okay to use “with” in the above situation where a person is telling another person that he can keep the money. I think “on” would sound weird here.

14

You might also hear a variation of Mr. P’s example as “I don’t have any money with me”

Well, it’s not actually my cat, but I suspect the cat’s chubby because of all the beer he drinks. Probably should consider switching to lite beer, but the taste is crap.

Aye, my real cat and I share a town with Dorothy and Toto. No, seriously, they live
here across town. Since the official site has a remarkable lack of pictures, here’s a random person’s picture album of their visit.

Note one of the much lauded “Multi-Ethnic Dorthies” shown in the pictures. Further proof that political correctness can be taken to the point of silliness.

15

I wouldn’t expect to hear:

  1. I don’t keep any money with me.

But I would expect to hear:

  1. I don’t keep it with me. [a picture of the beer-drinking cat]

  2. I don’t have any money with me.

  3. I didn’t bring any money with me.

Best wishes,

MrP