keeping
PronouncedKEE-pihng
Staying the same way or continuing to do something. Lara kept her eyes looking at the trees while she got her camera.
Syllables
2 syllables
Letters
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: Letter K
Sound“k”·/k/
The letter K makes the /k/ sound, like in 'kite', 'kit', and 'king'.
K always makes the /k/ sound. It is used before E, I, and Y where C would make an /s/ sound instead. K is silent before N at the start of a word (knife, know).
Tip
K is for kite — and kite starts with /k/!
Examples
Phonics Rule: EE Vowel Team
Sound“ee”·/iː/
When two E's are together, they say long E, like in 'tree' and 'see'.
The vowel team 'ee' almost always makes the long E sound “ee”. This is one of the most reliable vowel teams in English.
Tip
Two E's together always agree — they say “ee”!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Letter P
Sound“p”·/p/
The letter P makes the /p/ sound, like in 'pan', 'pig', and 'pot'. Both lips press together then pop open.
P is a voiceless bilabial stop — both lips press together and release with a puff of air but no voice. It pairs with B (which is the voiced version of the same mouth position).
Tip
P pops open — press your lips and let it POP!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Suffix -ING
Sound“ing”·/ɪŋ/
Adding -ING to a verb shows something is happening right now, like 'running' and 'playing'.
The suffix -ing is added to verbs to show an ongoing action (present participle). Sometimes the base word changes: drop silent E ('make' → 'making'), double final consonant ('run' → 'running').
Examples
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