phrasal verb · informal
keep to oneself
UK/kiːp tə wʌnˈself/US/kip tə wʌnˈsɛlf/KEEP·to·one·SELF
speakingtask1
prefer not to talk to or mix with other people; be private or reserved
Examples
“He keeps to himself at school, so he doesn't join clubs.”
“She's friendly in meetings but usually keeps to herself outside work.”
“My neighbour keeps to himself and rarely talks to anyone.”
Band 8 sentence
“Although effective in his role, he tends to keep to himself, which sometimes limits his networking opportunities.”
Collocations
- keep to himself/herself
- tend to keep to oneself
Word family
keep verboneself pronoun
Common mistakes
keep myself to→keep to myself
keep to himselfs→keep to himself
Say it for a higher band
5shy→6reserved→7+keep to oneself
Synonyms
be reserved
be introverted
Easily confused
be reserved
“She is reserved and prefers formal conversation.”
Related words
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