“keep company with”是一个常用的英语短语,核心含义与“人际互动”或“陪伴关系”相关,具体意思和用法可分为以下几类:
1、 与…交往;和…结伴(指持续与某人保持社交联系,常指朋友、同事等之间的往来)
2、 与…谈恋爱;和…拍拖(引申义,特指男女之间的恋爱关系,强调“稳定交往”)
(注:宾语必须是“人”,不能是物;若要表达“某物陪伴某人”,需用keep sb. company,见下文区分。)
一般现在时:描述长期习惯(如“常和某人交往”);
现在完成时:强调持续状态(如“已经和某人交往了一段时间”);
进行时:表示当前正在进行的交往(如“正在和某人谈恋爱”)。
I prefer to keep company with people who share my passion for hiking.
(我更喜欢和同样热爱徒步的人交往。)
He stopped keeping company with those bad influences after graduating.
(毕业后他不再和那些不良朋友交往了。)
They've been keeping company with each other for over a year.
(他们已经谈恋爱一年多了。)
Are you keeping company with anyone these days? I heard you went on a date last week.
(你最近在和谁谈恋爱吗?我听说你上周约会了。)
注意“keep company with sb.”和“keep sb. company”的区别:
keep company with sb.:主语主动“和某人交往/结伴”(强调“互动关系”);
keep sb. company:主语“陪伴某人”(强调“单方面陪伴”,此时sb.是间接宾语,“company”是直接宾语)。
例句对比:
She keeps company with her coworkers every weekend.
(她每周都和同事们一起活动。)(主动交往)
Can you keep me company while I wait for the bus?
(我等公交时你能陪我吗?)(单方面陪伴)
不能接物:不能说“keep company with books”,需改为“Books keep me company.”(书陪伴我。)
语境限制:引申义(恋爱)多用于非正式场合,正式场合更常用“dating”或“in a relationship”。
总结:“keep company with”本质是描述“人与人间的持续联系”,具体含义需结合语境判断——是普通社交,还是恋爱关系。