create / make / keep > a habit - WordReference Forums

"Keeping to habit" is not an idiomatic phrase in English—at least not in the US. "Making a habit of" something or "getting into the habit of" ... Forums Dictionarysearch:  English-Spanish English-French English-Italian English-German English-Dutch English-Russian English-Portuguese English-Polish English-Romanian English-Swedish English-Czech English-Greek English-Turkish English-Chinese English-Japanese English-Korean English-Arabic Spanish-English French-English Italian-English German-English Dutch-English Russian-English Portuguese-English Polish-English Romanian-English Swedish-English Czech-English Greek-English Turkish-English Chinese-English Japanese-English Korean-English Arabic-English Spanish-French Spanish-Portuguese Spanish-Catalan French-Spanish Portuguese-Spanish Englishdefinition Englishsynonyms Englishcollocations Englishusage Italiandefinition Spanishdefinition Spanishsynonyms Catalandefinition Spanishconjugation Frenchconjugation Italianconjugation Englishconjugation Login Register What'snew Search Rules/Help/FAQ Members InterfaceLanguage Menu Login Register Installtheapp Install EnglishOnly EnglishOnly Youareusinganoutofdatebrowser.Itmaynotdisplaythisorotherwebsitescorrectly.Youshouldupgradeoruseanalternativebrowser. create/make/keep>ahabit Threadstarter Ev0oD Startdate Jan29,2013 E Ev0oD NewMember Slovak,Czech Hello,I'mlookingfordifferentusesofthewordhabit,sincemostofthemseemreallyunnaturaltome. 1.Canyoucreateahabitforyourself? Ordoyouonlymakeahabit? 2.Can"makingahabitofsomething"alsobeexplainedasthatyou'vejuststartedwithsomeregularactivityandyouaretryingtomakeahabitofit,orisitjuststatingthefact,thatyoualreadyhavesuchahabit?Ifnot,howwouldyoustatetheinterpretationthatIpresented? 3.Whenyouwanttostatethefact,thatyou'vedonetheactivity,whichthehabitisfortheday,howwouldyousaythat?TodayI've"donemyhabit"/"achievedthehabit"/"???"?Oristherenosuchformulation,whichwouldincludethewordhabitinit? 4.Howwouldyoucalltheexecution/carryingoutofthehabittaskinoneday? 5."IcameacrossanobservationafterchallengingmyselfwiththetwonewhardhabitsI'mtryingtodo."Howwouldyousaybetter,thatyou'retryingtodoanewhardhabit?Maintainisnotright,causeit'sexpecting,youalreadyhadthehabitintegratedinlife. I'llprobablyrealize,thatIneedsomemore,specificusesoftheword,whenI'llcomeacrosstoit(soon),soI'lladdthemherelateron. Thanksinadvance!   Lastedited:Jan29,2013 HauRuck SeniorMember UnitedStates-Midwest English-U.S. Sorrybutyougetonequestionperthread.I'llanswerquestion#1. "Makingahabit"ofsomethingissimiliarto"creating"ahabitforyourself;wejustdon'tphraseitthatway. Ifamanisrepeatedlylate,dayafterday,hisbossmightsay,"youaremakingahabitofbeinglate."Hewouldnotsay,"youarecreatingahabitofbeinglate." Mainlyitisjustanidiomofsorts."Trynottomakeahabitoutofbeinglate."   E Ev0oD NewMember Slovak,Czech Thankyou! Ok,I'llpostthemseparately,itjustfeltlikedoingalotofmessaroundhere,soIwantedtokeepitinone,sorry.   velisarius SeniorMember Greece BritishEnglish(Sussex) 1.I'dliketogetintothehabitofrunningamileeveryday. 2.Ilikedrinkingaglassofchampagneforbreakfast;IthinkI'llmakeahabitofit. Heborrowed50eurosagaintoday;he'sstartedmakingahabitofit." 3.Ihaveahabitoftidyingmybookcaseeveryday;Ikepttothishabiteverydaythisweek./I'vekeptupthishabitallweek. 4.? Anyhelpatall?   E Ev0oD NewMember Slovak,Czech Thanksvelisarius,yourhelpisveryappreciated.Especially"startedmakingahabitofit","keepingtohabit"and"gettingintothehabit".JustwhatIwanted!   P Parla MemberEmeritus NewYorkCity English-US Especially"startedmakingahabitofit","keepingtohabit"and"gettingintothehabit". Clicktoexpand... "Keepingtohabit"isnotanidiomaticphraseinEnglish—atleastnotintheUS. "Makingahabitof"somethingor"gettingintothehabitof"somethingor"beinginthehabitof"something=doingitrepeatedly,oftenwithoutthinkingmuchaboutit;doingitroutinely.Itmaybepositiveornegative;"habit"itselfisn'tgoodorbad.   HauRuck SeniorMember UnitedStates-Midwest English-U.S. Parlasaid: "Keepingtohabit"isnotanidiomaticphraseinEnglish—atleastnotintheUS. Clicktoexpand... ExactlywhatIwasabouttowrite."Keepingthehabit(of)"isidiomatic,butnot"keepingtohabit".   E Ev0oD NewMember Slovak,Czech Thanksagain.So"Ikeptthehabitofexercisingtoday"isabetterwaytosayit,thenhowvelisaurussaidit:"Ikepttothishabitof.."?Orarebothidiomatic?   velisarius SeniorMember Greece BritishEnglish(Sussex) Iwrote"Ikepttothishabit".Ithinkit'scorrecttosay"tokeeptoahabit"or"tokeepupahabit". Iagree"Keepingtohabit"   P Parla MemberEmeritus NewYorkCity English-US I'dsay,"Ikeptupthepracticeofexercisingdaily." Idon'tknowaboutyou,butwithme,exercisingissomethingIhavetothinkabout,nota"habit"Ihappentofallinto.Andneitherahabitnorapracticetakesplaceonly"today";bothare,bydefinition,repeatedoccurrences.   E Ev0oD NewMember Slovak,Czech SonowIsee,thatsinceit'sbeensaidinmorethanjustonepost,thatkeepingthehabitofdoingsomethingissomethingverynatural,evencompulsive,inaway,notjustaregularactivitychosenbyrationaldecisionprocess.Whichisalittleproblemforme,sinceI'dliketousethewordhabitinacontextofdevelopinggoodhabits,whichusuallywon'tbesonatural(i.e.exercising,notbeingonfacebookforlongerthanaparticulartimelimitetc.)Thosearenotthings,thathappenallbythemselvesjustbecauseonehasdevelopedahabittodoit,butit'smoreofkeepingupthepracticeofdoingthesethings,whichonedecidestodoonregularbasis.Iwashoping,thatonecanusethewordhabitinsuchcontexttoo.   velisarius SeniorMember Greece BritishEnglish(Sussex) Parla'spostisinteresting,butI'mnotsureI'dagree.Youcanslipintoabadhabit,fromlackofwill.Ithinkyoucanforceyourselftodevelopgoodhabits.Attheoutsetyoumayforceyourself,butwhentheybecomeroutineIthinkwecancallthemhabits(habitualbehaviourthatwedowithoutthinking).Wetalkabout"forceofhabit".Oncethebehaviourisingrainedwedoitautomatically.   Youmustloginorregistertoreplyhere. 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