stay

Meanings

1. 1verbintransitive

   To remain in one place and not leave or go away.

   Grammar: No object, often followed by a place: stay at home, stay in the car.

   Patterns

   • stay at/in/on a place
   • stay with someone
   • stay for a time

   I'll stay here until the rain stops.

   She stayed at home with a cold.

   Please stay in your seats until the plane lands.

2. 2verbintransitive

   To live somewhere for a short time as a guest or visitor, such as in a hotel.

   Grammar: Often followed by with or at: stay with friends, stay at a hotel.

   Patterns

   • stay at a hotel
   • stay with someone
   • stay overnight

   We stayed at a small hotel near the beach.

   My cousin is staying with us this week.

   They stayed three nights in the mountains.

3. 3verblinking

   To continue to be in a particular state or condition without changing.

   Grammar: Followed by an adjective: stay calm, stay awake.

   Patterns

   • stay + adjective
   • stay in touch

   Stay calm and follow the instructions.

   The soup will stay warm for an hour.

   It is hard to stay awake in a dull meeting.

4. 4nouncountable

   A period of time spent living somewhere as a guest or visitor.

   Grammar: Countable: a stay, long stays; often a stay in or at a place.

   Patterns

   • a stay in a place
   • a stay of two weeks

   Enjoy your stay at our hotel.

   His stay in hospital lasted a week.

   A short stay in the country did her good.

Word forms

Common combinations

stay in touch

Let's stay in touch after you move abroad.

stay put

The dog stayed put while we crossed the road.

stay up late

The children stayed up late on New Year's Eve.

stay the night

You are welcome to stay the night.

stay away from

Stay away from the edge of the cliff.

Synonyms and how they differ

remain

Remain is more formal and often used for things left behind, while stay is the everyday word for people.

linger

Linger suggests staying longer than expected or reluctantly, whereas stay is neutral.

lodge

Lodge means to stay temporarily as a paying guest and is more formal than stay.

wait

Wait means staying until something happens, and stay has no sense of expecting an event.

Opposites

Word family

stayer noun

a person who keeps going or stays for a long time

staying power noun

the ability to last a long time

overstay verb

to remain longer than allowed

homestay noun

a stay with a local family

Commonly confused: stay or stay?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “stay”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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