"Keep writing" and "keep smiling", as a usage of keep, make sense but like this, can one use "keep standing" or "keep sitting"? Like if a teacher scolds a student and punish him to stand or sit continuously would it be correct to say "keep standing" or "keep sitting"? What are the alternatives if it doesn't make right sense can be used?
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2Keep VERBing means to continue VERBing. If you were not VERBing, then you can't continue it. This goes for any action - keep walking/running/typing/writing/looking If someone is standing, they can't keep sitting, for instance; first they would have to sit.– John LawlerCommented Jan 9, 2023 at 20:20
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If somebody says someone to be in standing position, will keep standing be correct sentence?– RAVI KUMARCommented Jan 9, 2023 at 20:25
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1If I believed that (a) you are in a standing position, and (b) that I have the power and desire that you continue standing, then keep standing would be a correct thing for me to say (assuming, once again, that (c) you could hear me say it and (d) you would understand it as an instruction from me to you).– John LawlerCommented Jan 9, 2023 at 20:28
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3Stay sitting or remain sitting sounds much more natural to me. @JohnLawler — Aren't sit, stand, and lie a different sort of verb (compared to e.g. write and smile), and might that be what makes them not work as well with keep?– Tinfoil HatCommented Jan 9, 2023 at 20:57
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2Stand up verb involves change in state so keep standing seems to give impression in mind as if somebody is standing up again and again.– RAVI KUMARCommented Jan 9, 2023 at 21:25
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1 Answer
For sitting, the most common idiom (of the ones I know) is "stay seated," though "remain seated" is also common (see Google Ngram Viewer; my search is in upper case since these are often at the start of a sentence). "Keep sitting" is relatively rare and sounds unidiomatic to me.
For standing, the most common idiom (of the ones I know) is "remain standing," though "keep standing" and "stay standing" are also common (again see Google Ngram Viewer). So "keep standing" is in fact a valid choice.
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Thank you so much everyone, each answer gave new insights, very helpful. Commented Jan 10, 2023 at 4:13