Keep on means to continue doing something or to do it again and again. Keep on often suggests persistence or irritation: The phone kept on ringing. In informal British English, keep on at someone means to nag them: She keeps on at me about my haircut.
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keep on + -ing; keep on at + person (to + verb); keep on about + topic
- The printer kept on jamming, so we sent the documents by email instead.
- Keep on asking questions in class, even if some of them seem simple.
- My mum keeps on at me to book a dentist appointment.
What changed
First versionYour essays are getting better. Keep on the good work!
RevisionYour essays are getting better. Keep up the good work!
In the meaning continue, keep on is followed by a verb with -ing; a noun on its own does not fit. To encourage someone to go on doing well, English says Keep up the good work: keep up means to keep something at the same level.
Keep doing and keep on doing are almost the same: It kept raining and It kept on raining mean the same thing, and on only adds a sense of persistence. But if an object comes between keep and on, the meaning changes to not taking something off or not switching it off: Keep your coat on, the heating isn't working.
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The little boy ___ asking the same question until his mum finally answered.
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kept on — The boy asked the same question again and again, and this kind of persistent repetition is kept on + -ing: kept on asking. Kept up goes with a noun when something is kept at a certain level: kept up the pace. It is not used with asking.
Think of something at work, while travelling or at home that annoyed you because it happened again and again. Say what happened and how you solved the problem.
The Wi-Fi in our office kept on disconnecting, so I finally asked IT to replace the router.
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