To Preserve Something
To Keep Something, To Maintain Something
transitive verb, godan verb
This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means preserve and the verb vocab version is to preserve something, to keep something, or to maintain something.
This is a transitive verb, so it takes a direct object. You preserve something, like your youth.
たもつ
Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you:
If you want to learn how to preserve something like fruits and veggies, you should start with tamots (たも), that's slang for delish tomatoes. Once they're preserved, you get to make everyone you love eat those yummy tamots. Mmm!
わかさを保つひけつは何ですか？
What's the secret to preserving your youth?
ビエトのおかげで、コウイチはメンツを保つことができた。
Thanks to Viet, Koichi was able to maintain face.
あのお医者さんに、「体調を保つためには、日々の運動が大切だよ」なんて言われたけど、そのお医者さん自体がすっごく太ってるんだよね。
The doctor told me that it’s important to exercise regularly to maintain your physical health, but he is so fat.