“坚持”可以译作adhere to, persevere¹ in, persist in, hold on to, stick to, keep to等。

如：adherence to the socialist³ road, to Communist Party leadership, to the people's democratic dictatorship and to Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zetong Thought.

adhering to a coordinated⁴ and balanced program of development

persevere in the pursuit of one central task and two basic points

persisting in reform and opening up

hold on to socialism

stick to this attitude

keep to the socialist orientation⁵

Adhere to的意思是“坚持维护，支持”，“信仰坚定”，“忠实于”，如：adhere to principle/belief/ideas/opinion/promise/plan/program, “坚持党的基本路线”可译作adhere to the Party's basic line, “坚持无产阶级国际主义”可译作adhere to proletarian internationalism.

Persevere in 和persist in 一般用于行动，都有"“在困难或遭到反对的情况下坚持”的意思；但persevere in 带褒义，表示“不屈不挠”，而persist in带贬义，表示“顽固，不听开导或劝告”，如：

Perseverance⁶ means success.

persevere in one's studies/armed struggle

persist in one's errors/asking insulting questions

Hold on to的意思是“抓住不放”，用于beliefs, ideas, principles时表示“坚持信仰，坚持原则和观点”，即使他人影响或情况使人产生怀疑，也不改变或放弃，如：

hold on to one's views

Stick to 的意思是“粘住，不离”；和choice, decision, principle, belief等词连用时，也有“不变，不放弃”，“坚持”的意思。

Keep to 有“不背离”，“不违背”，“遵守”的意思，如：

keep to the main road

keep to prearranged plan/schedule/promise

Keep to 用于decision, belief, rules时有“坚持”的意思。

此外，“坚持”也可译作insist on, keep up, uphold等。 Insist on 多用于意见，主张，如：

We insist on an interview before we accept any MA candidates.

She insisted on her innocence⁷.

He insisted on going there alone.

Keep up的意思是“继续”，如：

keep up one's studies/piano practice/the attack/the struggle/propaganda/criticism/the good work/the efforts/the customs of one's native land/regular payments/a friendship

Uphold的意思是“支持”，“赞同”，可和law, principle, system, practice连用。“我们党坚持辨证唯物主义和历史唯物主义的世界观”可译作Our Party upholds dialectical materialism⁸ and historical materialism as its world outlook.