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Hanuman_2000 Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

while

0Hello,02br
02br
001. Dorothy and Toto soon fell fast asleep while the scarecrow 01b00kept watch.02b02br
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00Mostly we use "keep+v-ing" as "keep smiling".02br
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00So, why is "keep watch" not "keep watching" in the sentence (1)?0-
  

Top answer

1font 01i 00kept watch02i 00 is the simple past tense of 01i 00keep watch,02i 00 which is an idiom. It means to be on guard. 02font 0-

— Murasaki

  • 1font 01i 00kept watch02i 00 is the simple past tense of 01i 00keep watch,02i 00 which is an idiom.
  • It means to be on guard.
  • 02font 0-
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5 Answers
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1font01i00kept watch02i00 is the simple past tense of 01i00keep watch,02i00 which is an idiom. It means to be on guard. So while Dorothy and Toto slept, the scarecrow remained awake and alert in case someone approached them wanting to do something bad to them.02font0-
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1i00To keep watch02i00 is an idiomatic phrase, Hanuman; it means to maintain the 01i00watch02i00, perhaps from these definitions: 01i00a period of time (4 or 2 hours) during which some of a ship's crew are on duty; the period during which someone (especially a guard) is on duty.02i00 01table
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0 In the idiom "keep watch", the word "watch" is not a verb, so it can't have verb endings like "-ing".02br
00 CJ0-
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0 01blockquote
01cite10CalifJim12cite10In the idiom "keep watch", the word "watch" is not a verb, so it can't have verb endings like "-ing".12br
10CJ12br
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12blockquote
10Good one, Jim. 0-
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0 Afterthought:02br
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00 Hanuman,02br
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00 Here are the last lines of a poem by American poet Robert Frost.02br
00 It's about people who go to the beach and stare at the water all day.02br
00 Note the word "watch". (You may want to look up the word "vigil" in the dictionary. It, too, means "watch" in this sense.)02br
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