TOEIC Link Part 5: stationary versus stationery

Stationary and stationery are homophones — they sound exactly alike — so Part 5 sets them in the same item knowing your ear gives you nothing to work with. This is a pure word-choice question, not a word-form one: the two words belong to different parts of speech and almost never fit the same slot. The reliable signal is grammar plus meaning. Once you see whether the blank wants an adjective describing a state or a noun naming office supplies, the answer settles itself.

The core rule: not moving versus writing materials

• stationary is an adjective meaning not moving, fixed in one place: The truck remained stationary at the loading dock. / Prices have stayed stationary for two quarters. It describes a state — something is still, unchanging, or held in position.
• stationery is a noun (uncountable) meaning writing materials — paper, envelopes, notepads, pens, and the printed letterhead a company orders: Please order more stationery for the front desk. / The new logo appears on all company stationery.

A memory hook that holds: stationery with an -e- is for envelope (and paper, which also has -e-). Stationary with an -a- is for at rest — both have that a. If the blank is about paper and supplies, it is stationery; if it is about not moving, it is stationary.

How to read the slot

You can usually decide from the grammar of the blank alone.

• Before a noun, or after a linking verb, describing a state → stationary (the adjective). In a stationary target, the engine stayed stationary, remained stationary, the blank describes whether something moves, so it must be the adjective. Stationery cannot do this job.
• After "the / some / company / office" as a thing you can order or run out of → stationery (the noun). In order stationery, company stationery, a box of stationery, the blank names a physical supply.

That adjective-versus-noun test is the most useful one. Stationery is never an adjective, so if the word directly modifies a following noun (a ___ object) or follows a linking verb (stayed ___), the answer is stationary every time. If the word is the thing being ordered, printed, or stored, it is stationery.

Common Part 5 traps

• Business contexts pull toward stationery. Because TOEIC passages are full of offices, the supplies sense appears often: reorder office stationery, branded stationery. Do not let the business setting alone decide it, though — read the grammar.
• "Stay / remain / keep" signals stationary. These linking and state verbs almost always pair with the adjective: keep the vehicle stationary, remain stationary during the procedure.
• An article plus a head noun signals stationery. A countable-looking frame like a supply of (blank) or the (blank) cabinet points to the noun naming materials.

Quick check

Decide which word fits, then confirm with the test.

1. The exercise bike registers effort even while it is completely (blank).
2. The office manager keeps the supply closet stocked with (blank).
3. A (blank) camera produced sharper images than the handheld one.

Answers: (1) stationary — it follows is and describes not moving; (2) stationery — it is the thing being stocked, a noun; (3) stationary — it modifies camera, an adjective describing a fixed position.

The takeaway

Ignore the sound; read the slot. If the blank describes a state of not moving — modifying a noun or following stay/remain/keep — choose stationary with an a. If it names writing and office materials you can order or print on, choose stationery with an e. The grammar of the slot, not your ear, is what TOEIC is testing here.

For more homophone and near-twin pairs that Part 5 loves, see our guide on principal versus principle and the broader framing in knowing whether you are answering a word-choice or word-form question.