Ways to say it
| Arabic | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| مَكَثَ | makaṯa |
| بَقِيَ | baqiya |
To express the concept of staying or remaining in a place, you can use either of the primary verbs. Additionally, the noun إِقَامَة is used to refer to a stay or residence, such as a hotel stay or legal residency. For related concepts involving a person's residence or sojourn, the noun إِقَامَة is also applicable.
Which one should you use?
مَكَثَ is used when you want to imply staying or lingering for a specific period of time. In contrast, بَقِيَ is the more common way to express that someone or something remains or stays behind in everyday contexts.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Egyptian Arabic, the word خليك can be used to mean 'stay'.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The form بَقِيَ is the third-person masculine singular past tense. Its corresponding present tense form is يَبْقَى. If you need to describe something that is 'remaining' or 'staying', you should use the active participle بَاقٍ.
How do you pronounce it?
makaṯa
Did you know?
- The noun إِقَامَة is used not only for staying in a hotel but also as the technical term for the second call to prayer that signals the prayer is about to start.
- If you want to tell someone to 'stay' in a specific spot in an informal Egyptian setting, you might say خليك (khaleek), which literally stems from the verb 'to leave' or 'to let'.
- When talking about 'staying' in a car or a specific position, speakers often switch from the formal بَقِيَ to the command اِقْعُدْ (iq'ud), which literally means 'sit'.
Examples in context
- مَكَثَ الطالِبُ في المَكْتَبَةِ.makatha al-talibu fil-maktabati.The student stayed in the library.
- مَكَثَ المُسافِرُ في الفُنْدُقِ.makatha al-musafiru fil-funduqi.The traveler stayed in the hotel.
- مَكَثَ الرَّجُلُ في المَسْجِدِ.makatha al-rajulu fil-masjidi.The man stayed in the mosque.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “stay” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
