"Ich werde es für mich behalten."

Translation: I will keep it to myself.

[vplevris]

Is this phrase suitable for a thing or for a secret? It means "I will keep this secret to myself" = I will not tell anyone, or "I will keep this thing for myself"? Can a native speaker explain?

[Jussel11]

As a German native speaker I understand the German sentence "Ich werde es für mich behalten." as referring to a secret or other kind of information I promise not to tell anyone.

It took a while until I had an idea how I would say "I will keep this thing for myself" in German: "Ich werde es für mich selbst/selber/persönlich behalten/aufbewahren." With "selbst" , "selber" or "persönlich" it is not suitable for a secret. You can also say: "Ich werde es selbst/selber benutzen." - "I will use it myself." or "Ich nehme es selbst/selber"-"I take is myself." or "Ich nehme es für mich selbst/selber." - "I take it for myself."

P.S.: Before you ask: "selbst" is a bit more formal and "selber" is a bit more informal. Both mean the same.

[OgnjenG.]

I guess that in right context it can have both meanings. Check example number five, it has similar construction like Duo sentence...

http://context.reverso.net/translation/english-german/keep+a+secret

[sarahdod]

So how would you say, "I will keep it for myself", which is what I thought this sentence meant?

[RCDCMagician]

In the translation it says "to myself", doesn't that indicate the dative so "mich" would be "mir"?

[PaulMcCann6]

I think having the "für" (accusative) preposition trumps that.

[HerrDay]

This is an incorrect translation. The operative phrase is to keep something to "oneself", so the translation should be "I will keep it to myself."

[Teresinha]

Now DL agrees....

[marziotta]

I had the same feeling, but since I am not English I wasn't sure...

[IsaacRobertBrown]

That's what I wrote for my answer, and it accepted it.

[LeoBlackma3]

I have had both "I will keep it for myself" and "I will keep it to myself" accepted.