keep a close eye on vs keep an eye on

Both phrases are correct and commonly used in English. The addition of 'a close' in the first phrase emphasizes the need for careful observation, while the second phrase is more general.

Last updated: March 23, 2024

keep a close eye on

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to emphasize the need for careful observation.

This phrase is used to indicate the importance of closely monitoring or observing something or someone.

Examples:

Please keep a close eye on the children while they play outside.
I'll keep a close eye on the progress of the project.
It's important to keep a close eye on your expenses to avoid overspending.
The security guard kept a close eye on the suspicious individual.
She always keeps a close eye on her health and well-being.

Show examples from the web [+]

One who could keep a close eye on things.
We must keep a close eye on technical possibilities.
And keep a close eye on Dunham.
Kre-Kre... keep a close eye on my mad genius, and make sure he has everything he needs.
Get some ice for that contusion and keep a close eye on him.
Arthur, you just keep a close eye on your brother and his friend.
On that subject, we will have to keep a close eye on the calendar, because, as you have stressed, 1 January 2007 is approaching rapidly.
Can you keep a close eye on Megan for me?
Asked you to keep a close eye on him.
I'll keep a close eye on my flammables.
We keep a close eye on things the first week.
The Council will continue to keep a close eye on the situation.
We will certainly have to keep a close eye on that.
This mechanism will enable the Commission to keep a close eye on developments in these very important areas.
We in Parliament are therefore right to keep a close eye on the situation.
We must keep a close eye on this balance.
The Commission will keep a close eye on developments in Russia.
So I want you to keep a close eye on her for the next 24 hours.
The European Union has actively supported the holding of these elections and should keep a close eye on what is happening in the DRC.
Sounds like Mr. Glass liked to keep a close eye on his family.

Alternatives:

monitor closely
watch carefully
keep a watchful eye on
keep a vigilant eye on
keep a sharp eye on

keep an eye on

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to indicate monitoring or observing something or someone.

This phrase is used to suggest keeping watch over something or someone, without emphasizing the level of scrutiny as strongly as 'keep a close eye on.'

Examples:

Could you keep an eye on my bag while I go to the restroom?
I'll keep an eye on the weather forecast for our trip.
She asked her neighbor to keep an eye on her plants while she was away.
The teacher told the students to keep an eye on the time during the exam.
He always keeps an eye on the stock market for investment opportunities.

Alternatives:

watch over
keep watch on
keep tabs on
keep track of
be vigilant about

What Our Customers Are Saying

Our customers love us! We have an average rating of 4.79 stars based on 283,125 votes.
Also check out our 2,100+ reviews on TrustPilot (4.9).

"Thank you!"
Sachi Nakama July 2024
"I have literally been through chat, PI, claude, bard and bing and I got conflicting answers! Thank you! Human intelligence reigns!"
Retha July 2024
"Faster than AI"
CYNTHIA December 2023
"This was very helpful and I personally think this site is the best."
Kaden October 2023
"It was extremely thorough and very helpful!"
imperialelisa October 2023
"7 years without any disappointment. Always 100% satisfied. You guys are the best in the world at what you do. Thank you so much :)"
Zubair Alam October 2023
"In a world of text messages and online communication, this is great to have as a live tool. Thank you."
Selena October 2023
"Without textranch I would be stuck!"
宏祐 October 2023
"Accuracy and fast response. Personal comments from editor. Thank you."
Clh September 2023
"I wasn't aware of this service, it's fascinating and more reliable than standard IA tools available on the internet"
Arturo September 2023
"The fact that you can get reliable fast feedback on your texts."
Vinicius Antonio August 2023
"you guys are better than grammarly i'm being honest here"
ordinary July 2023
"OMG! This is really good than any other text correction tools I've used so far. Highly recommend this."
Vehan July 2023
"Very fast and accurate. thank you."
mojtaba July 2023
"I love this app because it's help to writing skills all of students ♥️"
Tarisini July 2023
"This was exactly the mistake I was looking for, the wording dind´t sound right at first. Better than grammarly!"
Ente July 2023
"The immediate help that I received was reassuring and very satisfactory. Thanks."
priiiyanshuu July 2023
"this helps A LOT for my studies."
kathnunez02 June 2023
"Woow!! I would never have expected such precision! Thank you soooo much!!"
Berta June 2023
"Real Time Editor and not AI. Many Thanks."
Priya June 2023
"The very first thing excites me about Textranch is how much your editors care."
sepideh June 2023
"The fact that texts are checked by human editors rather than by AI, etc. I appreciate this!"
Анна June 2023
"Feel welcome, immediate response, high quality feedback"
martin.roy June 2023
"This is the best app that I have ever seen"
Burulai May 2023

keep a close eye on vs keep an eye on