Stay away means to keep your distance or avoid something: a person, a place, a food or a habit. The second meaning is not to come: stay away from school means not to go to school for a while.
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stay away from + person/place/thing; stay away (from work/school) + for + time
- My doctor told me to stay away from coffee for a while.
- Stay away from the city centre on Saturday — there's a big football match.
- When the flu hit, half the class stayed away from school for a week.
What changed
First versionThe doctor told me to stay away sugar for a month.
RevisionThe doctor told me to stay away from sugar for a month.
Avoid takes no preposition: avoid sugar. Stay away doesn't work like that: it needs from: stay away from sugar. The mistake comes from mixing up these two ways of saying the same thing.
Go away means “leave”, here and now: Go away, I'm busy! Stay away means “don't come near”, and usually not just for a minute: Stay away from my sister. The first asks someone to leave the room; the second asks them not to come near again.
Your turn
My cousin borrows money and never pays it back, so I try to ___ him.
Show the answer
stay away from — It's about a person the writer avoids, so from is needed: stay away from him. Without from, the sentence is ungrammatical, like stay away sugar.
Describe a habit, food or place you've decided to keep your distance from. Say how long you've been doing it and what has changed.
I've stayed away from social media for three weeks, and now I fall asleep much faster.
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