stay and stand

[Tvita]

Could you tell me a difference in meaning between 'stay' and stand?

Would it be correct to say:
1) Stay apart
2) stay aside
3) stand apart
4) stand aside

What is a difference between these 4 expressions? Could you give me some examples of using each of them? Thank you in advance :)

[Neillythere]

As a Brit and mentor, but not a teacher, the best way that I can explain it is:

A) Someone asks you to "Stand aside/apart"
B) They then ask you to "Stay aside/apart", i.e keep standing aside/apart.

The first relates to position, the second to maintaining that position over a period of time.

Hope this helps.

[David L.]

1) Stay apart from : keep your distance from someone in the sense of don't associate with them, don't be in their company or vacinity.
If two children are always fighting when they are together, it may be better if their parents tell them to stay apart from each other. (This phrase is not very common - more likely to be, 'keep away from each other'

2) stay aside - (Don't bother with this one - too rare, if indeed, it really exists)

3) stand apart : to be noticeably different from, in the sense of better than eg "Our business stands apart when it comes to customer service and satisfaction."

4) stand aside :take no action to prevent, or not involve oneself in something that is happening. " The army was ordered to stand aside as the citizens tore down the Berlin Wall."