Correct spelling, explanation: stays is the third singular form of the verb to stay. Stays comes from a Latin form stare, which could be translated as to stand. Stays also appeared in Old French, where it looked as ester and estaye. When it comes to English, stays entered it in the times of Middle English. In modern English stays is a commonly used verb.

Definition of stays:
1. verb – to remain in the same place,
He stays at home most of the time as he doesn’t have many friends.
2. verb – to continue being in a particular state,
The food stays warm longer if you cover it with aluminum foil.
3. verb – to be a visitor at some place,
He is a keen traveler and stays in a different country every month.

Collocations with stays:
A few commonly used collocations are: stays behind, stays late, and stays overnight.
He stays behind at every party even when everyone else is gone.
He stays late almost every day so no wonder he is always tired during the day.
Will stays overnight at our place every time he visits the city.

Incorrect spelling, explanation: a common mistake made in the spelling of the verb stays is to write it as stayes. According to the rule the -es ending is added to the verb when there is a consonant before the -y letter. For example, carry becomes carries. However, if there is a vowel before the -y letter, only -s is added. Therefore, the only correct spelling is stays.