How to say 'to keep' in Chinese?

Question

Seems like an easy question, but there doesn't seem to be an easy answer! If I have three apples in my hands and I give you two, I could say 'I'll give you these two apples, but I will keep this one'. What is the verb for 'to keep' in this scenario? 拥有? 保持? 留下? All thoughts much appreciated! Hashamyim

Answer 1

留(下) is your best bet.

Here's an example from Oxford C-E:

我留下20块钱，下剩的给你。
I'll keep 20 yuan and the rest is for you.

Answer 2

In your example, I'll give you these two apples, but I'll keep them it means:

保留

'to keep' can be said that 保持 保存 维持.

Like
That's why I must trust you to keep this secret
那就是为什么我必须得相信你会保守这个秘密的原因。
I had to keep in with the people who mattered.
我得和管事儿的人保持良好关系
I wanted to keep in touch, but when I called him he gave me the brush-off.
我想和他保持联系，但当我打电话给他时，他却不理睬我。

'to keep' is a sense of continuity
Its effect is to put something in a certain state

Answer 3

'I have 3 apples, I'll give you two apples, I'll keep this one'.
我有三个苹果，我给你两个，一个留给我自己。