/steɪz/
stays is pronounced /steɪz/. Stays is the third-person singular and plural present tense of the verb stay, or a noun meaning a supporting strip or rods in a sail or garment. In everyday use it denotes remaining in a place or continuing to be in a given state, and as a noun it can refer to a supporting stay on a boat or corset. It embodies continuity, duration, or support depending on context.
Say it backStays is the third-person singular and plural present tense of the verb stay, or a noun meaning a supporting strip or rods in a sail or garment. In everyday use it denotes remaining in a place or continuing to be in a given state, and as a noun it can refer to a supporting stay on a boat or corset. It embodies continuity, duration, or support depending on context.
"She stays at her grandmother's house every summer."
"The boat's stays held the sail steady during the gusts."
"He stays calm under pressure, even when things go wrong."
Pronounce as single syllable /steɪz/. Start with the /s/ fricative, move into the diphthong /eɪ/ as in 'wait', then finish with /z/. Keep the tongue high-mid and relaxed; the lips are neutral-to-spread. Primary IPA: US/UK/AU: /steɪz/. Stress is on the only syllable; there is no lengthening beyond a typical long vowel. You’ll want hard but not aspirated final /z/—voicing carries across the vowel. Audio references: say it in isolation, then in phrases like 'stays here' to hear the boundary before voicing changes.
Common mistakes are mispronouncing the /eɪ/ as a short /e/ (like 'set'), or misusing a /s/ followed by a voiceless /s/ instead of a voiced /z/. Another frequent error is over-voicing or voicelessly ending the final consonant. Correct by ensuring the diphthong blends from /e/ to /ɪ/ is avoided; keep it as /eɪ/ and switch to /z/ with voice onset at the vowel’s end. Practice with minimal pairs: /steɪz/ vs /stɛs/ and focus on finishing with /z/ rather than /s/.
Across accents, the /steɪz/ nucleus remains a fronted diphthong but vowel quality shifts: US typically has a higher beginning tongue position and a slightly longer /eɪ/; UK often features a slightly more centralized /eɪ/ with a crisp /z/; Australian tends to have a more centralized, relaxed /eɪ/ and subtle vowel flattening in connected speech. The final /z/ generally maintains voicing across all, but voicing may be less prominent in fast speech with elision of preceding consonants. Overall, the core is /steɪz/ with minimal rhotic differences since 'stays' does not alter r-coloring.
The challenge lies in the diphthong /eɪ/ transitioning into a voiced final /z/ in a single syllable, and doing so without a subtle vowel reduction in rapid speech. Many non-native speakers insert an extra vowel or misplace articulation, leading to /steɪs/ or /steɪz/ with inconsistent voicing. Focus on keeping the glide from /e/ to /ɪ/ tight and finish with a clear, audible /z/. Tuning the timing—voicing starts precisely as the vowel ends—helps maintain naturalness.
No, 'stays' has no silent letters. The word is pronounced as one syllable with a voiced final consonant /z/. The challenge is ensuring the /z/ is not devoiced in rapid speech; maintain a light, clear voice onset for /z/ and avoid trailing a tiny hiss. Reinforce with phrases like 'stays put' and 'stays the same' to train the final /z/ across connected speech.
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Stays comes from Old English stǣgan or stǣigan, related to stand and stay as verbs of remaining in place. The sense of 'to keep in one place' expands into 'to continue to be' (as in 'stays' of a structure). Historically, sail stays are supporting rods—central to ship rigging—named for their role in keeping sails aligned. The noun stay for corsets and structural supports emerged from mid-14th century usage, tied to the idea of keeping a garment or framework in its intended shape. The modern plural stays appears in the 16th–17th centuries as both verb form (he stays) and noun (the stays of a rope or rod). Over time, the word broadens to common verb usage 'to stay somewhere' and to describe features designed to maintain position or form. First known uses appear in legal and nautical texts, with later literary adoption expanding into everyday speech. Etymology traces through Germanic roots with cognates in Dutch and German where equivalents carry a similar sense of remaining, holding, or supporting. Through centuries, stay evolved into a flexible term crossing multiple domains: time, place, support structures, and attire. By the 19th century, stays had become widespread in fashion (corset stays) and construction (structural stays), cementing its polysemy in modern English.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "stays" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "stays"
-ays sounds
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