Skip to main content
to stay together

to stay together

140 2.1
Remain close and loyal to each other during hard times
  • phrasal verb
  • /steɪ təˈɡɛðər/
translation icon : mantenerse unidos
  • If we stay together, we survive.
  • families stay together
  • parents stay together
  • stay together for the sake of

The longer we stay together, the deeper the tie.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • They will stay together as a pair throughout their lives.

  • Will Larry and Kate stay together or will they get divorced?

  • We have power and we still have it and we have to stay together to fight this cause together.

  • I mean, the the parents who stay together are just few and far between.

  • I just want us to stay together.

  • Our basic finding was that families try to stay together and remain near their homes.

    Academic text (1997)
  • I watched them stay together while all my friends' parents fell apart.

  • The longer we stay together, the deeper the tie.

  • How have you and Isaac stayed together for so long?

  • In tough times, it's important for friends to stay together and support each other.

Synonyms

to stick together
vsto stay together
133 2.7

Stay together and help each other during hard times

show loyalty and keep commitment through difficulties
to hold together
vsto stay together
90 3.4

Keep parts or people joined and working as one

applies to personal loyalty during hard times rather than physical unity
to stand together
vsto stay together
33 3.4

To join others to support the same cause

express loyalty to each other rather than public cause support
to hang together
vsto stay together
2 4.1

To stay united and help each other in hard times

focus on loyalty and staying committed under pressure

Antonyms

to break up
  • Informal
678 2.6

End a relationship with someone, for example a romantic or business partner

23 3.9

To stop being together or working with someone and go in different directions

How United

to stay together
140 2.1

Surface Forms

stay together infinitive
stayed together past participle
staying together present participle
stays together third person singular

Morphology

stay + together

The meaning 'to remain united/loyal' is directly and compositionally derived from 'stay' (to remain) + 'together' (in the same group), following a common English verb + adverb pattern. This construction is cross-linguistically regular and predictable, so an average B1 learner who knows both words can infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Stay together comes from the simple image of people holding close in a storm: to stay by each other's side and be together so they do not get separated. That's why it means 'to remain united and loyal to each other' in hard times.