How do you say "stay" or "stay there?"

[kellysensei]

I know the general words for stay are いるand　とどまる but what is the command form of いる? Like if I want to tell someone (especially my cats or baby) to "stay here" or "stay there?" Is it just ここにいなさい？

What about "sorry, I can't stay (for dinner, etc.)."

Thanks!

[taikutsu]

I'm not sure in what context you want to say "stay", so I can't give you a definite answer on that.

I've usually heard people say 失礼します (I'm being rude) when leaving someone early.

[mslozada]

@ Kellysensei

There are many various ways on how to say " stay there/ here " depending on the situation, since Japanese is one of the most complicated languages in the world.

You have to be a little bit more precise with your question

I could answer your question with 動くな which means " don't move ". It covers both " stay there/ here ". However 動くな ...(sorry, im too lazy to explain)...

So what is it that you really want to know?
(Who? Where? When? Why?, etc. )

[Javizy]

「ここ/そこにいなさい」is fine.

「夕食（ゆうしょく）までいられない」is one way of saying "I can't stay for dinner".

[kellysensei]

I was looking specifically for how to say "stay there" to my cats or baby when I don't want them to move.

Thanks for the replies; if there are more ways to say it, let me know!