stagevsstayWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“stage” and “stay” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#33,857
“stage” frequency rank
#27,786
“stay” frequency rank
61643
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stage stay
Definition Fase, etapa. Parada.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set stage and stay apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
stage
4 ch
stay

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. stage (/steɪd͡ʒ/) and stay (/steɪ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61643, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stage is recorded at frequency rank #33,857, classified as anoun, pronounced /steɪd͡ʒ/. stay is at rank #27,786, tagged as anoun, pronounced /steɪ/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 61643, this pair ranks #54,741 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of stage vs stay

Shared letters: ast. Private to "stage": eg. Private to "stay": y.

"stage" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "stay" · 4 letters · shape CCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stagesatge · sstage · staeg · stagge · stgae · sttage · tsage
  • staysaty · sstay · stayy · sttay · stya · tsay

Frequency comparison

stage#33,857
stay#27,786

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stage" and "stay" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/steɪd͡ʒ/ versus /steɪ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "stage" or "stay"?
"stay" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,786 in our Spanish list, against #33,857 for "stage". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering stage vs stay

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “stage” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list