Keep safe means to protect something or keep it in a secure place: keep your documents safe. Without an object, it means to stay safe, and Keep safe! or, more often, Stay safe! is said as a goodbye: take care.
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keep + something/someone + safe (from + danger); keep safe (= stay safe); Keep safe! / Stay safe!
- I keep my passport and spare cash safe in a small bag under my shirt.
- Wear a helmet and bright clothes to keep safe when you cycle at night.
- Back up your photos to the cloud to keep them safe if your phone breaks.
What changed
First versionPlease keep your passport in safety during the trip.
RevisionPlease keep your passport safe during the trip.
Keep in safety can look like the natural way to say this, but it isn't used. After keep and the object, you simply put the adjective safe: keep your passport safe. Keep the soup warm and keep the room clean work the same way.
Save can look as if it means the same, but it does a different job: to rescue (save a life), to put money aside (save money), to store a file (save the document) or to keep for later. To stop something being stolen or lost, say keep it safe: Keep the receipt safe, you'll need it for a refund.
Your turn
Put your ring in the hotel safe to ___ while you're at the beach.
Show the answer
keep it safe — The ring goes in the safe so that it's protected: keep it safe. Save it here sounds like rescue it or keep it for later, and it doesn't fit a safe.
Describe how you keep important documents safe when you travel. Name the document and where you keep it.
When I travel, I keep my passport safe in the hotel safe and carry a photocopy in my bag.
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