stasevsstayWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: stase is a noun, stay is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“stase” is a noun and “stay” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,372
“stase” frequency rank
#22,424
“stay” frequency rank
71796
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stase stay
Definition Stabilité, constance dans le temps, immobilité, passivité ; absence de changement, de mouvement, d’activité (voir aussi l’adjectif statique). Demeurer, loger.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
stase
4 ch
stay

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stase is \staz\ while stay is [steɪ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71796, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stase is recorded at frequency rank #49,372, classified as anoun, pronounced \staz\. stay is at rank #22,424, tagged as averb, 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 71796, this pair ranks #46,268 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of stase vs stay

Shared letters: ast. Private to "stase": e. Private to "stay": y.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stasesatse · sstase · staes · stasse · stsae · sttase
  • staysaty · sstay · stayy · sttay · stya · tsay

Frequency comparison

stase#49,372
stay#22,424

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stase" and "stay" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "stase" is a noun and "stay" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "stase" or "stay"?
"stay" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,424 in our French list, against #49,372 for "stase". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering stase vs stay

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “stase”; for a verb, it's “stay”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “stase” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list