Understanding of a sentence

pineapple

Please take a look at the following paragraph first——

i have quite a few long distance friendship. How do i maintain them? Well, i always believe that friendship needs tending. i keep up to date with my friends. Take Jane for example. We talk on the phone at least once a week, usually for an hour at a time, and we take turns calling. Though my phone bills are high, i think they are part of my living expenses. Other friends i e-mail. We often exchange e-mail messages to strengthen our friendship. Anyway, it is always important for friends to keep in touch with each other.

But how to understand that underlined sentence? What are the usage of \"date\" here? We know, \"date\" is a transitive verb, often used in such structure as \"date sb.\". So why the sentence has a \"with\"?

Thank you.

mcm98619

keep/bring sb up-to-date(=to give someone all the newest information about something)

意思是：给某人有关某事的所有最新信息

我了解朋友们的最新情况。

corundum

up to date用微软公司的话说，就是“更新”，操作系统的补丁要及时下载更新升级，友谊亦是如此啊！
with是与keep组合成keep with词组。

wdscxsj

Keep up to date with sb. 结构上相当于keep in touch with sb.，意思也相近，更强调“一有新闻立即分享”。

Up to这里表示“直到”。到哪呢？就是当前了。Up to date是keep的补语，表示所keep的状态。keep ... with sb. 表示和某人保持怎样怎样的关系。

白马西北驰

引用第0楼pineapple于2008-10-20 15:40发表的 Understanding of a sentence :
i keep up to date with my friends. .......

You misunderstand the word "date". It's a noun, but not a verb, in this sentence.

The friends answering the question seem to have lookde the word up in the same dictionary. LDOCE? Mine is the same

The standard usage may be: I keep my friends up-to-date.

Here, it seems to be colloquial, or informal.

pineapple

Thanks for all your help.

cicerocicero

The key to the question is the word "up" -- it's a double use here, rhetorically a bit like "pun". Expressions of this kind are rather common and popular in English.

first is "keep up with sb", wdscxsj's explanation can work because the focus really lies in "contact", but "keep ... with sb" is a grammatically awkward expression;
second is "up to date", 白马西北驰's pointing out that it is used colloquially or informally is soundly right, but (O(∩_∩)O) where does the "with" go?(BTW: "looked" is not "lookde"; usually "up-to-date" is no longer treated as an adverbial as "up to date" does but an adjective and often put before the thing modified, for example: up-to-date books.)

on such basis, the conclusion or the answer for the post-master is: "date" is a noun, or you can say it has lost itself and merged into the phrase "up to date"; the structure is really simple, yet with a kind of modification (inversion), which is of a slang or colloquial feature, or, in other words, its original or standard form should be "keep up with my friends up to date".

winnerwzs

Main Entry:keep up
Function:verb
Date:15th century

intransitive verb
1 : to maintain contact or relations with *keep up with old friends*

2  date
Function:noun
Etymology:Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin data, from data (as in data Romae given at Rome), feminine of Latin datus, past participle of dare to give; akin to Latin dos gift, dowry, Greek didonai to give
Date:14th century
to date : up to the present moment

keep up 此处是不及物动词,意思是维持\保持,后面接宾语需要介词with,date是名词,意思是当前时刻.所以我认为可以这样翻译:我和朋友们保持联系