keep perspective

Meanings

1. 1phraseidiom

   to stay calm and judge situations in a reasonable, balanced way

   Grammar: Often followed by 'on' plus the situation: keep perspective on the problem.

   Patterns

   • keep perspective
   • keep perspective on something
   • keep things in perspective

   When you lose your job, it's hard to keep perspective.

   Try to keep perspective on the criticism; it's not the end of the world.

   Parents need to keep perspective when their children make mistakes.

2. 2phraseidiom

   to remember that a problem is not as important as it seems

   Grammar: Often used as 'keep things in perspective' with the same meaning.

   Patterns

   • keep things in perspective
   • keep a sense of perspective

   Yes, we lost the game, but keep things in perspective — it's just a game.

   She kept a sense of perspective despite the bad news.

Common combinations

keep perspective on something

It's important to keep perspective on your finances.

keep things in perspective

He tries to keep things in perspective when he gets stressed.

keep a sense of perspective

Good leaders keep a sense of perspective in a crisis.

help someone keep perspective

Talking to a friend helped me keep perspective.

Synonyms and how they differ

stay grounded

More about remaining practical and modest, not specifically about judging importance.

keep a level head

Focuses on staying calm and sensible, especially under pressure.

put things in perspective

Similar but suggests actively comparing a problem with bigger issues.

Opposites

Word family

perspective noun

A way of thinking about or judging something.

Commonly confused: keep perspective or keep in perspective?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “keep perspective”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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