Stay out means to stay away from home late, or not come home at all: stay out late, stay out all night. With of, the meaning changes: stay out of something means not to get involved, or to keep away from something: stay out of trouble, stay out of the sun.
Want to use stay out in conversation?
Write a sentence — we'll show the mistakes right away and suggest how to say it more naturally.
The check is taking longer than usual. Your feedback will appear here automatically.
stay out + late/all night/until + time; stay out of + argument/trouble/the sun
- My parents let me stay out until midnight on Saturdays when I was sixteen.
- We stayed out late after the concert and missed the last train home.
- This is between Tom and his boss, so I'm staying out of it.
What changed
First versionPlease stay out from their argument, it's not your business.
RevisionPlease stay out of their argument, it's not your business.
Keep away from can make from seem right here. But in this meaning stay out is always followed by of: stay out of their argument. Only the preposition was changed in the correction.
Stay in is the opposite: to stay at home and not go anywhere: It was raining, so we stayed in and watched a film. Stay out means spending an evening away from home for longer than usual.
Your turn
My sister and her husband are arguing about money again, so I'm trying to stay out ___ it.
Show the answer
of — The speaker doesn't want to get involved in the argument between their sister and her husband, and in this meaning stay out takes of. From doesn't go with this verb.
Describe an evening when you got home later than usual. Say where you were and what time you got back.
Last Friday I stayed out with friends at a karaoke bar and didn't get home until 2 a.m.
Learn to use new words without mistakes
Write phrases with the words you are learning. LetsWords shows mistakes in usage and grammar, suggests corrections and explains them, and review helps the words stick.