Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "to stay" in Russian

This Russian word is one of the top 1000 words in Russian. The complete list of most common Russian words is available here.

остаться

Meaning: to stay, remain

Pronunciation: [ahs-TAH-tsuh]

Part of speech: verb (perfective aspect)

Rank: #173 (see frequency list)

I stayed in the city in summer.
Photo by Dieter Karner CC-BY-2.0

Example sentences:

Ле́том я оста́лся в го́роде.
I stayed in the city in summer.
Оста́нешься у нас обе́дать?
Will you stay here for dinner? (familiar "you")
Ой, что дéлать, ключи́ оста́лись в офисе!
Oh, what should I do, the keys were left in the office!
literal Oh, what should I do the keys remained in the office!
Она́ оста́лась вдово́й и так и не вы́шла за́муж.
She became a widow and she never remarried.
literal She remained a widow and she never remarried.
По́сле войны́ от го́рода ничего́ не оста́лось.
Almost nothing remained from the city after the war.
Её гла́за навсегда́ оста́нутся в мое́й па́мяти.
Her eyes will always remain in my memory.
У меня́ оста́лось то́лько де́сять рубле́й.
I have only 10 rubles left.
Гла́вное сейча́с - оста́ться в живы́х.
The most important thing now is to stay alive.
У вас не оста́лось бо́льше вре́мени, мне о́чень жаль.
I'm very sorry, but you have no more time left.
Э́та кварти́ра оста́нется твоему́ бра́ту.
Your brother will inherit this flat.
literal This flat will remain to your brother.
Мо́жно я оста́нусь на́ ночь?
May I stay for the night?
Дже́йн оста́лась в Росси́и ещё на 2 неде́ли.
Jane stayed in Russia fro two more weeks.
Оста́нься хотя́ бы на день, пожа́луйста!
Stay (here) at least for one day, please!
Мы оста́немся у Ната́ши ненадо́лго.
We'll stay with Natasha for a short while.
literal We'll stay with Natasha not for long.

Idioms and set expressions:

оста́ться на ночь = stay the night
literal to stay for the night
оста́ться вдово́й = become widow
literal remain widow
всë, что оста́лось = the only thing remained
literal all that remained
оста́ться в живы́х = stay alive
оста́ться в де́вках = remain single (about females)
literal remain in girls
оста́ться сирото́й = remain an orphan
оста́ться на боба́х = become orphan
literal remain orphan
оста́ться с но́сом = be tricked
literal remain with nose
не оста́ться в долгу́ = not leave smth unanswered
literal not remain in debt
не оста́ться в стороне́ = participate actively
literal not remain aside
оста́ться не у дел = be out of commission
literal remain out of affairs
оста́ться в одно́й руба́шке = have no money or property left
literal stay with a shirt only
оста́ться у разби́того коры́та = have no money or property left
literal stay near the broken washing tub
оста́ться с пусты́ми рука́ми = have no money or property left
literal stay with empty hands
оста́лись ро́жки да но́жки = nothing remained of smth
literal remained only horns and hoofs

Related words:

остава́ться = to stay
оста́ток = rest, remainder
оста́точный = residual

Proverbs and sayings:

Врага́ боя́ться - в живы́х не оста́ться.
If you're afraid of enemy, you won't stay alive.

Verb conjugation:

Present Tense

The perfective verb остаться is not used in the Present Tense. Use the imperfective verb оставаться instead.

Past Tense

I, you (singular), he	оста́лся
she	оста́лась
it	оста́лось
we, you (plural), they	оста́лись

Future Simple Tense

I	оста́нусь
you (singular)	оста́нешься
he, she, it	оста́нется
we	оста́немся
you (plural)	оста́нетесь
they	оста́нутся

Future Compound Tense

The perfective verb остаться is not used in the Future Compound Tense. Use the imperfective verb оставаться instead.

Imperative Mood (Command Form)

you (singular)	оста́нься
you (plural)	оста́ньтесь

View full conjugation table for the verb pair оставаться/остаться

Vocabulary lesson: By Russificate blog exclusively for MasterRussian

Phrase recordings: Copyright(c) 2011 MasterRussian.com. All rights reserved.
Word recordings: Copyright(c) 2006 Streit Goulnara, Streit Eric, Vion Nicolas. Copyright(c) 2007 S. Sakhno, N. Vion. Distributed under CC-BY.

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