Work & careers
earn your keep
be useful enough to justify support
To be useful or helpful enough to justify the money and care that someone spends on you.
Hear it in real life
Your dog gets a lot of attention.
He earns his keep by frightening away burglars.
When I first moved in with my aunt, I helped with the bills to earn my keep.
The mistake everyone makes
Not: I helped around the house to earn my own keepings.
Say: I helped around the house to earn my keep.
The expression is “earn my keep”; “keep” does not become plural or take “-ings.”
Build it
How it fits in a sentence.
earn your keep; earn his keep; earn their keep
Your turn: say it out loud
When I first moved in with my aunt, I helped with the bills to earn my keep.
Say it out loud two or three times, until it feels like yours.
earn your keep
be useful enough to justify support
“When I first moved in with my aunt, I helped with the bills to earn my keep.”
heytardy
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