25/06/2019 To Lie or To Lay?

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Lie vs. Lay

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Nancy Tuten | 3 October 2015
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Lie vs. Lay

The verbs to lie and to lay have very different meanings. Simply SUBSCRIBE
put, to lie means “to rest,” “to assume or be situated in a horizontal
position,” and to lay means “to put or place.”
(Of course, a second verb to lie means “to deceive,” “to pass off
false information as if it were the truth,” but here we are focusing
on the meaning of to lie that gives writers the most grief.)

To Lie
To lie is an intransitive verb: it shows action, and the subject of the
sentence engages in that action, but noting is being acted upon
(the verb has no direct object).
Tradutor instantâneo
Muama
Ad Esta invenção japonesa permite que
você fale 40 idiomas
get-enence.com

Saber mais

Put another way, the verb to lie does not express the kind of Latest Articles
action that can be done to anything. Think of it as meaning “to
recline” or “to rest.” Verbs First: Targeting the Crucial Action
(https://getitwriteonline.com/articles/verb
It is conjugated in this manner:
first-targeting-the-crucial-action/)
SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE: I lie here every day. What Does It Mean to “Beg the
(He/she/it lies here. They lie here.) Question”?
CONTINUOUS PRESENT TENSE: I am lying here right now. (https://getitwriteonline.com/articles/beg
PAST TENSE: I lay here yesterday. the-question/)

FUTURE TENSE: I will lie here tomorrow. What Exactly Is Grammar, Anyway?

(https://getitwriteonline.com/articles/wha
×
PAST PERFECT
Get It Write TENSE:
uses cookies I haveyour
to enhance lain here every
experience onday for years.
our website. By using our website you consent to our use of cookies.
exactly-is-grammar-anyway/)
Notice that we never use “laid” to describe the act of reclining. I Agree
❯ Privacy Preferences “Which” Craft: The
Broad/Implied/Vague “Which”
To Lay
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25/06/2019 To Lie or To Lay? | Get It Write Online
p g
To Lay
(https://getitwriteonline.com/articles/whi
To lay is a transitive verb: it describes action done to something, craft-the-broad-implied-vague-which/)
so it will always have a direct object. That is, something or
When to Capitalize People’s Titles
someone has to be receiving the action of the verb to lay.
and/or Positions
Think of this verb as meaning “to place,” “to put”: something in the (https://getitwriteonline.com/articles/capi
sentence must be getting “put” or “placed.”
titles-positions/)
The verb to lay is conjugated in this manner, with the direct object
in each sentence being book:

SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE: I lay my book on the table every

night before turning out the light. (He/she lays his/her book
on the table. They lay their books on the table)
CONTINUOUS PRESENT TENSE: I am laying my book on the
table right now.
PAST TENSE: I laid my book on the table last night.
FUTURE TENSE: I will lay my book on the table tonight.
PAST PERFECT TENSE: I have laid my book on the table
every night for years.

What Makes This Distinction So Tough?

One reason is that the past tense form of to lie is lay, spelled Pop Chart Lab A
exactly like the present tense form of the verb to lay. Diagrammatical
Dissertation On
The two past participles also cause confusion. Many people are Opening Lines Of
not even familiar with the past participle of the verb to lie, which Notable Novels Poster
is lain: “We have lain on every mattress in the store, and now we 3) Print, 24″ X 18″,
must decide which one to purchase.” Multicolored
Because lain is an unfamiliar verb form and because it sounds
(Https://Amzn.To/2zXtqYP)
similar to the past participle of to lay, which is laid, folks often use
laid as the past participle for both verbs.

Examples with Explanations (https://amzn.to/2zXtqYP)

1. Every afternoon we lie (not lay) down and rest for an hour.
Here we need the verb that means “to recline,” “to assume a
horizontal position,” which is “to lie.” The present tense form
of the verb “to lie” is “lie.” The only time we can use “lay” to
mean “to recline” is in the past tense.
Categories
2. Luke lay (not laid) on the beach and soaked up the sunshine.
This sentence describes an act of reclining that occurred in Clarity and Precision
the past, so we should have used “lay,” the past tense of the (https://getitwriteonline.com/articles_cate
verb “to lie.” and-precision/)
3. I distinctly remember laying (not lying) my keys on the kitchen Grammar
counter. Because the subject of this sentence (“I”) is placing (https://getitwriteonline.com/articles_cate
the keys on the counter and because the verb has a direct Mechanics
object (“keys”), we need a form of the verb “to lay.” (https://getitwriteonline.com/articles_cate
4. The reports were lying (not laying) on my desk this morning. Miscellany
These reports were reclining (resting) on the desk; they were (https://getitwriteonline.com/articles_cate
not placing anything there. All active-voice forms of the verb Modifiers
“to lay” require a direct object to receive the action expressed (https://getitwriteonline.com/articles_cate
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by the verb, but sentence 4 has no direct object. Nouns, Pronouns, and Verbs
(https://getitwriteonline.com/articles_cate
5. When Sabine comes home every afternoon, ❯ Privacy she lays (not lies)
Preferences I Agree
pronouns-and-verbs/)
her coat on the chair by the door. She puts or places her coat
Oth T i
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25/06/2019 To Lie or To Lay? | Get It Write Online

on the chair. “Coat” is the direct object, the thing that was Other Topics
placed. (https://getitwriteonline.com/articles_cate
topics/)
6. Yesterday Juan lay (not laid) on his sofa watching television
Punctuation
for three hours. This sentence also describes an act of
(https://getitwriteonline.com/articles_cate
reclining that occurred in the past. Thus, it should have used
Titles
the past tense of the verb “to lie,” which is “lay.”
(https://getitwriteonline.com/articles_cate
The most common mistake that people make with these verbs is Word Usage
using to lay when they should be using to lie. (https://getitwriteonline.com/articles_cate
usage/)
“I am going to lay down and rest” should be “I am going to
lie down and rest.”
“Fred laid in a hammock all afternoon” should be “Fred lay in a
hammock all afternoon.

Dear Abby Was Only Partially Right

The original Dear Abby was fond of describing the difference
between these two verbs by saying “people lie and chickens lay.”
But that trick works only with the present-tense forms: people
can also lay if they reclined at some time in the past.
Even in the present tense, Dear Abby’s oversimplification fails to
work consistently: although chickens are known for laying eggs,
they can also assume a horizontal position, just as people can:
“The chicken was lying in the middle of the highway.”
And although people may not actually be able to lay, or bring
forth, an egg, they can indeed lay (i.e., put or place) any number of
other objects. They can lay their keys on the kitchen counter—
or lay an egg there, for that matter.

Dispelling a Myth about Lay and Lie

One myth that persists about the verbs to lie and to lay is that we The First Fifty Tips –
should use lie in reference to people and lay in reference to
Second Edition
animals or inanimate objects (likely an unintended outcome of the
(Https://Getitwriteonline.Com
Fifty-Tips-Second-
Dear Abby oversimplification about people and chickens).
Edition/)
But the distinction between these two verbs has nothing at all to
om/Ebook/Typing-
do with whether the subject of the verb is human. As we have
explained, the distinction lies in whether or not the action of the
verb is transferred onto something or someone else—in whether
(https://getitwriteonline.com/ebook/first-
or not the verb can take a direct object.
fifty-tips-second-edition/)
Two Tips for Keeping “Lay” and “Lie”
Straight
The verb that means “to recline” is to lie, not to lay: “When I ng- (ht
get a headache, I need to lie down and close my eyes.”

The verb laid will always have a direct object: for us to use the
word laid correctly in a sentence, something or someone in
the sentence must be getting put or placed: “I laid my car keys
on the counter when I came home.” We never use laid in
reference to the act of reclining.
×
HereGet
is Ita Write
recapuses cookies to enhance your experience on our website. By using our website you consent to our use of cookies.
of the forms that go with each of these verbs:

❯
to lay = “to put” or “to place” (must have
Privacy Preferences
a direct object):
I Agree

PRESENT: lay PAST: laid PRESENT PARTICIPLE: laying

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25/06/2019 To Lie or To Lay? | Get It Write Online
PRESENT: lay, PAST: laid, PRESENT PARTICIPLE: laying,
PAST PARTICIPLE: laid

to lie = “to recline” (cannot have a direct object): PRESENT:

lie, PAST: lay, PRESENT PARTICIPLE: lying, PAST
PARTICIPLE: lain
Test Yourself
Can you spot confusion between the use of the verbs to lie and to
lay in the following sentences?
1. My headache was so intense yesterday that I had to lay down
before dinner.
2. Marsha lay the triplets in the playpen while she cooked
dinner.
3. Marsha lays the triplets in the playpen when she has work to
do.
4. Hector laid on the beach all morning.

Answers
1. My headache was so intense yesterday that I had to lie down
before dinner. [To lay is the infinitive form meaning "to place,”
which is incorrect in sentence 1 because nothing is being put
or placed (i.e., there is no direct object.]
2. Marsha laid the triplets in the playpen while she cooked
dinner. [T[The past tense verb cooked tells us that we need
the past tense of the verb to lay—meaning "to place” or "to
put,” as in "Marsha put the triplets in the playpen.”]li>
3. Correct. [Here we[Here we need the present tense form of
the verb that means "to place” or "to put.”]i>Hector lay on the
beach all morning. [Hector did [Hector did not place anything;
he simply reclined. Thus, we need the past tense form of the
verb to lie, which is lay.]p>Copyright 2009 Get It Write.
Revised 2019

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