![]() ![]() Sorry Bob and Eric, but your songs should be Lie Lady Lie and Lie Down Sally.Ĭan you spot why some of these popular song titles use lay incorrectly? Music is why we often learn to get lie and lay wrong It is easy to remember the difference, however. lay down.īut in the examples above, the lie down past tense is confusing because it is lay down. Where’s Susan? She’s lying down because of her headache.Īs you can see in the examples above, the same use applies when you use a phrasal verb form such as lie down vs. I had only lain down for a few minutes when the phone rang. He likes to lie on the couch when he reads. I think I’ll lie down quietly and see if it helps my headache. Lie means to assume a horizontal position, recline, or to rest and doesn’t require a direct object. Lay means to put something down, often gently, and always needs an object.Ĭould you lay my new dress on my bed, please? In everyday use, it becomes easier if you try to keep remembering that lay requires a direct object and lie doesn’t. Luckily, the present participle of both lie and lay are regular. ![]() How often do you use or hear the past participle form lain? That’s not too difficult to remember.īut for, to lie, the forms are easy to forget because they are so weirdly irregular. ![]() The present and past forms of to lay are easy and regular and they are lay, laid, and laid. The reason for most of the confusion is that the past tense of lie is lay, which is also the present tense of lay.Įnglish really has a way of making things tough for writers sometimes. ![]() Where these two verbs get a little more complex is when we change from the present to past tenses. Lay and lie and their confusing verb tense forms Use lie with no object and lay with an object. With lie and lay, it’s relatively easy in the present tense. We lie together on the beach. (intransitive) The phrasal verb lay for and the nautical use of lay, as in lay at anchor, though intransitive, are standard.I lay the book on the table. (transitive) There are a few exceptions to these rules.I was lying (not laying) in bed when he called. The rubbish had lain (not laid) there a week. When I lay (not laid) down, I fell asleep. Lie and its principal parts ( lay, lain, lying) are correctly used in the following examples: She often lies (not lays) down after lunch. Lie is an intransitive verb and cannot take an object. Lay and its principal parts ( laid, laying) are correctly used in the following examples: He laid (not lay) the newspaper on the table. Lay is a transitive verb and takes a direct object. By traditional usage prescription, these words should be kept distinct according to the following rules.Third, lay down, as in She lay down on the sofa sounds the same as laid down, as in I laid down the law to the kids. Second, lay was once used with a reflexive pronoun to mean "lie" and survives in the familiar line from the child's prayer Now I lay me down to sleep lay me down is easily shortened to lay down. One is the base form of the verb lay, and the other is the past tense of lie. Usage Note: Lay ("to put, place, or prepare") and lie ("to recline or be situated") have been confused for centuries evidence exists that lay has been used to mean "lie" since the 1300s. ![]()
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